Protection From Nargles
by Arpad Hrunta
Summary: Harry and Luna meet in the Room of Requirement. Mistletoe appears. Will Nargles be a problem? Takes place in during Harry's fifth year, as he and Luna get closer. Basically pure fluff, largely consisting of conversations. NOW COMPLETE.
1. Mistletoe

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers apply. Expression: mine. Everything else: not so much.

Protection From Nargles

Part 1 - Mistletoe

_December, 1995._

Fifth-year Hogwarts student Harry Potter watched as the Room of Requirement quickly emptied. The last training session of Dumbledore's Army before the Christmas holidays had just ended, and the students wanted to get to the Great Hall of Hogwarts in time for supper.

Harry wasn't really in the mood to eat and socialize, though. It had been a hard year for him so far. The usual harassment by Draco Malfoy and his goons was irritating enough, but had been so much of a constant for the last four years that it largely amounted to background noise in Harry's life unless Malfoy was being exceptionally irritating.

Headmaster Dumbledore's increasing distancing from Harry was more worrying. Harry had always thought that the old wizard was in his corner. Lately he wasn't so sure about that. Whether it was due to a concern for his job due to scrutiny from Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor (and Hogwarts High Inquisitor) Dolores Umbridge, the Ministry of Magic's overseer of the school, or due to a lack of concern for Harry's welfare, the effect was much the same – Dumbeldore was not the presence in Harry's life that he had been in the past. Harry felt he was losing a valuable ally, and a good friend.

As for Umbridge herself, the woman was a sadist. Harry looked at his scarred left hand, where Umbridge's detention methods had caused "I must not tell lies" to be carved into his skin by her magical quill. Repeatedly. She had banned student organizations, was intercepting the owl post, and making school dramatically more unpleasant than it had been on even the worst days. He never thought he would hate a teacher more than he hated Potions Master Severus Snape, or that a teacher would hate him more than Snape did, but Umbridge was proof that things could always get worse.

Umbridge was also instrumental in the campaign of slander and lies against Harry by the Ministry of Magic and the _Daily Prophet_, it's semi-official mouthpiece. Voldemort _had_ returned! Harry saw it with his own eyes, and saw poor Cedric Diggory murdered to bring it about. But the Ministry was telling everyone that Harry was lying, the _Prophet_ was libelling him, and there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it. With Wizarding Britain's government and newspaper of record telling people Harry was at best deranged, and more likely a foul liar and threat to magical society, public opinion had swung against him. He spent much of the last half-year fending off accusations that he was off his rocker, and it had taken it's toll on him.

There were only three things that had really kept him going through the year. The first was the support, hesitant though it may be at times, of his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Even if they silently thought he was becoming more unbalanced, they still backed him up. They had helped him survive four years of danger and madness at Hogwarts, and he had no doubt they would help him get through this one as well.

The second was Dumbledore's Army. What had started as an attempt to give students some practical Defence Against the Dark Arts training, as opposed to the pollyannaish drivel taught in Umbridge's farce of a class, had slowly changed into something more. It gave Harry a platform from which convinced _some_ students, at least, that Voldemort _had_ returned, and was a real threat to the lives of all of them. It gave Harry some practical leadership training, as he was the acknowledged head of the D.A.. All this served to boost confidence in him by his friends, his schoolmates, and most of all, himself. He could see himself becoming not just the lone boy who had faced Voldemort three times, and miraculously survived them all, but potentially a leader of men and women in the fight against the Dark Lord and his minions. This was an unexpected revelation – to Harry, at least.

The D.A. also provided some much needed fellowship and camaraderie at Hogwarts, which had been sorely lacking under the Umbridge regime. The friendships with his fellow students were his favourite thing about Hogwarts, something he had been deprived of for the first eleven years of his life. The atrophying of those friendships (Ron and Hermione being almost the only exceptions) wore on him greatly, and the D.A. was helping repair that.

Harry was startled from his musings by the soft voice of this term's third source of strength for him.

"Hello, Harry" said Luna Lovegood in her dreamy, far-away sing-song voice, a few feet from him. "I forgot my Transfiguration book after the meeting," pointing to it on a table beside him.

"Oh, hi, Luna," Harry replied, turning and smiling at the fourth-year Ravenclaw girl. He had never met her before encountering her on the Hogwarts Express at the beginning of the term, but he had quickly become very close to her. After their first meeting, when he got a crash course in the girl's peculiarities, he ran into her shortly afterwards at the thestral nest, where they bonded over their mutual ability to see the strange winged horses. Since then, he had ran into Luna a few times in the hallways after curfew, when neither of them were supposed to be up and about, and a few more times on grounds of the school. Luna had the same healthy disrespect for the restrictions on students' wandering around the school unsupervised as Harry did, but while his came largely from curiosity about possible shadowy goings-on, as well as a general restlessness, he thought Luna's wanderings came from a quest for solitude from her often cruel classmates, and a healthy appreciation for the beauty of the castle, its grounds, and nature in general. Luna seemed to revel in the natural world and the vistas offered by the school.

When they would run into one another, they would walk together and talk, sometimes with large stretches of silence which he usually found not-at-all uncomfortable. Luna would tell him about her thoughts on various creatures no one else had ever heard of, like Nargles and Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, in which he was not inclined to believe, although he wouldn't tell her that. She would also tell him about her theories of various dark conspiracies that the Ministry of Magic and its Minister were involved it, like cannibalism of goblins and similarly fiendish plots, in which Harry was similarly not inclined to believe, but would sometimes almost like to, given how the Ministry was treating him.

More rarely, Luna would tell him about her life, her classes, what being a Ravenclaw was like, and about her parents. Her father was the editor, publisher and owner of _The Quibbler_, a monthly magazine that reminded him of nothing so much as one of those American supermarket tabloids he had read about. He got the feeling most of Luna's strange beliefs came from her father and his magazine, which he suspected was read more for its humour value than for its hard-hitting journalism. Her mother had died in an accident five years previously which clearly devastated the younger girl, and likely had the same resonance in Luna's life as his own parents' murder fourteen years ago had in his.

Harry would tell her about his life as well, and his parents, and the isolation he felt due to the Ministry's smear campaign against him. Luna had told him at their meeting at the thestral nest how she and her father believed him completely about Voldemort's return. She had been the first student to tell him that, and he was grateful for it.

They also would talk of the loneliness that each of them felt at the school, and how other students didn't understand them, and often (almost always, in Luna's case) didn't make any effort to try.

The personal conversations had been increasing in frequency as of late. She was opening up to him, which he suspected was a new and difficult thing for Luna to do. She was a desperately lonely girl, bullied and ostracized by her fellow students, and even her fellow housemates, who played malicious pranks on her, called her cruel nicknames (like the almost-inevitable name "Loony", by which was nearly universally known), and stole her things. This last cruelty she had told him she blamed on Nargles, although Harry thought she was just deflecting his concerns when she said this. He looked down at her feet, and was glad to see she had at least recovered her shoes.

Maybe the Nargles gave them back.

As far had he could tell she had never had a friend in her life other than Ron's younger sister, Ginny Weasley. Until now, at least. Harry grew to consider her a good friend over the course of the term, the first real friend he had made since first year. He hadn't expressed this to Luna, but hoped she knew it. He didn't want her to think she was a "pity-friend", as he had genuinely grown to like her, despite her eccentricities.

Or maybe because of them.

Luna could be unsettling, no doubt. She stared a lot, with her slightly protuberant, startling silver eyes, and she didn't seem to blink as often as most people. She asked overly apt and uncomfortable questions of people, and made statements of startling and disconcerting accuracy far beyond the acceptable social norms. She spoke of things no one else thought about, like the aforementioned creatures, conspiracies, and bizarre theories, and would often jump from topic to topic without any obvious connection. Harry could see why all this would set her apart from her peers.

But she was also unusually perceptive, clearly highly intelligent (despite the "Loony" epithet), and had a ready sense of humour. She made him laugh a lot, and he hoped she knew he laughed out of enjoyment and not mockery. He didn't truly worry about that, though, as she always thought the best of people, even in the face of blinding evidence to the contrary. She also knew exactly what to say to make Harry feel better, and exactly when to say nothing.

She had a serenity about her, which he thought also made her seem unsettling to people. She talked most of the time in her dreamy sing-song voice, which threw him off at the beginning, but to which he adapted. There was steel in Luna when she was angered, however. He had only seen it once so far, the first time they met on the train, when Hermione had insulted _The Quibbler_. Harry had learned that you did not make fun of Mr. Lovegood's paper in front of Luna. He didn't know if Luna had forgiven Hermione for that yet, but was reluctant to ask.

She saw the wonder in the world, which Harry would have thought was self-evident, especially by wizards and witches, but which they so often (Harry included) didn't _see_. Luna saw the world, magical and mundane, it for all its wonder, beauty and joy. Maybe that was where the Snorkacks and other beasts came into it for her. The possibility of it all, as much as the actuality.

Luna _understood_ Harry in a way few others did, and in a way he hadn't really expect after knowing her for so short a time. She _got_ him. All this, and her belief in him when few others had, made her a really bright spot in the last term.

And now she was staring at him with those wide silvery eyes.

"You have a distant look on you, Harry Potter. Are you all right? Have the Wrackspurts got to you?" she asked, concern in her voice.

He smiled a little smile. "Not as far as I know, Luna."

She tilted her head at him. "That's good. You wouldn't want your brain to go all fuzzy."

He ran his left hand through his unmanageable black hair. "I was just thinking about this year, and what we've gone through. What I've gone through."

"Yes, it _has_ been rather horrible, hasn't it?" she said with her usual inappropriately serene tone. "With Umbridge and Cedric and everything."

"Yeah. It hasn't been all bad, though. You were really good in today's practice, Luna. You have the makings of a really good duellist in you."

"I don't know about that, Harry," she replied. "I don't think I'll ever enjoy duelling enough to be really good at it. It is a useful skill, though. Like catching plimpies. Or taxidermy."

Harry stifled a laugh. "True enough."

More silence.

"Are you going home to Surrey for Christmas, Harry?" she said, conversationally.

He grimaced. "No, thank God. I'm spending it with Ron and his family. You?"

She sighed. "I'll be spending it with my Dad. He likes to dress up as Father Christmas. And he makes a very tasty Christmas pudding."

That last thought brought a slight smile to her lips, Harry noted. Pudding was her favourite dessert.

"I wish we were having a Yule Ball this year," she said, largely out of nowhere.

He raised his eyebrows. "I thought you didn't like to dance? That's what you said the day we met."

She looked surprised that he remembered that, but didn't comment on it. "No, I said wouldn't have minded _not_ dancing. I like to dance just fine. I just don't _need_ to."

"Well, fat chance under Umbridge's Reign of Terror," he said. He noted by the way she looked at him that she didn't immediately get the reference, but took a moment to think of what the words actually meant. _One more difference between wizarding culture and Muggle culture_, he thought. Continuing, he said, "She doesn't even like boys and girls to sit together on benches."

"Yes," Luna said. "You can see how tense people are these days, like they're about to explode. That would be unpleasant."

Harry let out a guffaw. He felt a little sheepish at that, until he saw her conspiratorial smile.

"Still, it would be nice to have another Ball. Or even a simple school dance. I didn't get to go last year. Third-years didn't get to go unless someone asked them."

Harry noted she left "_and no one was going to ask **me** to the Ball_" unsaid.

"Well, if I'd known you last year I would have asked you," he said. He noticed her eyes get even wider. He hastened to add, "I'd have had more fun than I did with Parvati Patil. And you wouldn't have minded not dancing, unlike her."

"I think she minded being ignored by you in favour of Cho Chang more than the dancing."

Luna seemed to know a lot about his love life, he observed. "Well, Cho didn't work out either. Oh-for-two," he said, sheepishly.

"She's in the D.A..." Luna trailed off.

"Nah," he shrugged off the suggestion. "Too last-year."

He had no idea why he felt the need to explain his love life, or lack thereof, to Luna.

Yet more silence.

And staring.

"Well...," Harry began.

Luna simultaneously looked up. "Mistletoe," she observed.

Harry looked up as well, and saw what the blonde girl pointed out, sprouting on the ceiling of the Room of Requirement directly above him.

Time slowed down for Harry. His first thought was a childish impluse to jump out from under the mistletoe. He'd never been caught under it, not that anyone had ever wanted him to be, and the Room of Requirement was no winter wonderland, Christmas decorations notwithstanding. But he didn't want to offend Luna.

Not that he thought she would be.

But...

He looked back to the young Ravenclaw. She was no legendary beauty, but she was certainly cute in her own way, with her long, blonde hair, stringy as it may be, and a nice face, with smooth, almost procelain skin, and delicate features.

And her eyes. Her expressive silver eyes, filled with understanding and wonder.

Her now-mandatory (_another Umbridge legacy, _Harry thought) school outfit hid her unusual dress sense, but her "jewellery" as it were, made up for it. She wore earrings made of radishes (_no, she said they were "dirigible plums"_), and a string with a butterbeer cork for a necklace (_"it's a charm. To keep the Nargles away"_), both of which were excuses other students used to mock and belittle her, but which in Harry's mind were offbeat, endearing, and quintessentially Luna.

Plus she calmed him, _got_ him, believed in him.

No, he had no particular need to jump away.

Just in case.

She snapped him out of his head with another sing-song comment of hers. "You should be careful, Harry. Mistletoe is often infested with Nargles."

It dawned on him she was giving him an out.

He passed.

Uncertainly, he pointed to her necklace. "Good thing you're protected from Nargles," he said softly.

She gave him another "you remembered" look.

More silence. Shorter this time.

With a surprisingly (to Harry, at least) determined expression appearing on her face, she said lightly to him, "You're not, though," and stepped towards him, under the mistletoe.

They were inches apart, he looking down at her, she looking up at him, green eyes staring into silver.

_Put up or shut up, Potter_, he thought.

He leaned his head down to her. Closing her eyes, she leaned up.

Their lips connected. His first kiss. Hers too, he would wager.

Tentatively, they moved their lips gently, delicately against one another. It felt really, really good to Harry.

Her sigh made him think it felt just as good to her.

After an eternity, or thirty seconds, they moved slowly apart. Her eyes still closed, Luna said, "That was lovely, Harry" to him in the dreamiest tone he had ever heard from her.

"Yeah," he said, softly.

She then opened her eyes, and said in what Harry thought was a determined tone aimed more at herself than him, "But I really must get to supper. I hear there may be pudding." She smiled at him.

"You wouldn't want to miss that," he said, just as softly as before.

"No," she said, softly again. Switching to a serious tone, but still with a smile on her face, she said to him, "You shouldn't stand under mistletoe anymore these holidays, though, Harry. Nargles are a real threat, and you don't have one of these," pointing to her necklace.

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Got it. No more mistletoe. I wouldn't want to get Nargled."

She burst out laughing at that, a huge laugh, doubling over. "Nargled!" she wheezed out during her laugh. She was laughing a good half-minute, as long as the kiss lasted. He started chuckling as well.

Eventually, her laughter died down. She picked up her Transfiguration book. Shaking her head with a smile, she repeated, "Nargled!" She grabbed his right hand with her left and squeezed. "Merry Christmas, Harry," she said gently.

"Merry Christmas, Luna," he said, just as gently

She turned and left the Room of Requirement. Halfway out, her walking turned into skipping.

He watched her leave. He looked at the door for long time.


	2. Pudding

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers apply. Expression: mine. Everything else: not so much.

Protection From Nargles

Part 2 - Pudding

_January, 1996._

Harry Potter walked into the Great Hall at Hogwarts for the first breakfast of the winter term, behind his best friends, Ron and Hermione. They were arguing in an intense but good-natured way, although Harry had no idea what the topic was. He had stopped listening to them out a few minutes previously, and had since been walking behind them only semi-consciously, lost in his own thoughts.

It had been a far less relaxing Christmas break than he had hoped for, although he was grateful that Arthur Weasley, Ron's father, had largely recovered. Mr. Weasley had been attacked by "Lord" Voldemort's snake, Nagini, and had nearly died because of it.

_Once again, that bastard attacks me through the people I care about_, he thought. Oh, Harry knew that there was a political dimension to the attack on Mr. Weasley. He was perhaps the most prominent person in the Ministry of Magic who cared at all about Muggles, their interests and their affairs. He was also vocally opposed to the continuing influence held in the Ministry by the Death Eaters, Voldemort's followers from the last Wizarding War. And the new war which was just beginning, whether people believed Harry or not. But Harry was keenly aware how much Voldemort hated him personally, and he firmly believed the strike at Arthur Weasley was personal as much, if not more, than it was political.

Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table with his friends, distractedly grabbing some eggs, bangers, and potatoes from the breakfast spread and putting them on his plate. He absentmindedly picked at them, not listening to his friends' conversation, and scanning the Great Hall unsuccessfully for a glimpse of long blonde hair.

The girl he was looking for was the other source of distraction for Harry over the Christmas holidays. The kiss he shared under the mistletoe with Luna Lovegood just prior to the end of the fall term was near the top of his thoughts throughout the holiday, either due to him thinking about it and what it meant, or due to him trying to avoid thinking about it at all, and usually failing.

His first kiss had been with Luna Lovegood. It still surprised him, not only who the kiss was with, but how nice it felt, how _right_ it felt. Those moments under the mistletoe with Luna seemed absolutely perfect to him.

And he had no idea what it all meant.

He supposed he should have spoken with Ron and Hermione about it over the holidays. They might have given him some perspective on the matter. But he didn't want to take focus away from Mr. Weasley. And he wanted to avoid the embarrassment of the talking about the kiss with his friends for as long as possible.

Not that Harry was embarrassed about having kissed Luna. He was certain about that. She was a good friend, understanding, and fun to hang out with. _And cute. And a good kisser_, he thought. But he didn't want to hear Ron tease him about his first kiss. Or worse, ask for a detailed description. And he certainly didn't want Hermione picking over his whole relationship with Luna in microscopic detail. Not yet.

The only person he had spoken about it with was his godfather, Sirius Black, in whose house at 12 Grimmauld Place everyone was staying over Christmas. Sirius was regaling Harry and Ron with tales of his romantic exploits during his Hogwarts days, and had asked him offhandedly if he had met any cute girls at school. Sirius noticed the "please, not now" look in Harry's eyes, and changed the subject to his pranking adventures. When he and Harry were alone, Harry told him about his kiss with Luna and a little bit about the girl.

Sirius had told Harry, "Sometimes a kiss is just a kiss, especially one under the mistletoe. It doesn't necessarily mean anything." Then, with a twinkle in his eye, he continued, "What you really need is more practice. We can set up some mistletoe around the house, and you can try and catch Ginny or Hermione under it. Or even my cousin Nymphadora," he added with a smirk.

Blushing, Harry had said, "I actually told Luna I would avoid mistletoe for the rest of the holidays. Because of the Nargles." He then had to explain what Nargles were (or at least what he thought they were supposed to be) over Sirius' increasingly hearty laughing.

Wiping tears from his eyes, Sirius had said, "So let me get this straight. You and this Luna girl use these imaginary creatures as an excuse to kiss, and then she uses them to get you not to kiss any other girls, and you _agree_?"

Harry had proceeded to turn even redder. "Well, uh… she's pretty convinced they're not imaginary."

That had just provoked even more laughter from Sirius. "Harry, you've got it bad for this girl. If you want my advice, be casual, see where it goes. You're only fifteen, and she's only fourteen. Take your time."

Harry had hoped to run into Luna on the Hogwarts Express, but he didn't find her before Ginny Weasley dragged him into a cabin with Neville Longbottom. He didn't see Luna at all on the train, or afterwards.

Back in the present, Harry continued to play with his food and look around the Great Hall.

He eventually spotted Luna heading toward an empty spot at the Ravenclaw table away from her housemates. She spotted him watching her, broke into a wide smile, and waved enthusiastically at him. He grinned and waved back at her…

And then noticed Hermione's voice, directed at him. "…even listening at all, Harry?"

"Huh?"

"He's waving at Loony Lovegood, Hermione," Ron said through a mouthful of scrambled eggs, not raising his eyes from the plate of food before him.

"You shouldn't call her that," Harry chastised his friend.

"Ah, she doesn't mind. And she _is_ a loony."

Harry narrowed his eyes at his friend and lowered his voice. "She does mind, she just doesn't show it. And she's not loony. She's my friend."

Ron raised his hands in mock surrender. "All right, all right, I'm sorry I made fun of your friend _Luna_," he said, emphasizing her name. He looked over at Hermione with a questioning look in eyes. Hermione just shrugged back at him.

"Anyway," she said as if she hadn't been interrupted at all, "as I was _saying_, Harry, we really need to get ready for our O.W.L.s, especially in Potions. Now, I know you hate Professor Snape, but you really need an Outstanding if you want to be an Auror, and if we start really preparing now…"

But Harry had tuned her out again. He tried to catch Luna's eye again, but when he looked over, she was gone.

He sighed, tuned back into Hermione, and picked at his breakfast some more.

* * *

Later that day, Harry, Hermione and Ron were talking in the hallway, comparing notes on Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class of the day, when Ron saw a slim girl with long blonde hair, and a wand tucked behind her ear, skipping down the hallway towards them. "Here comes Loony," he muttered, which got him a glare from Harry. Ron muttered a quick "sorry" to his friend, and shot a look at Hermione, but Harry had already turned around by that point to face the young Ravenclaw.

"Hello Ronald, Hermione," Luna said in her far-away, sing-song voice. In a less distanced tone, she added "Hello Harry," and flashed a shy smile at him.

"Hi Luna," Ron and Hermione said simultaneously in a somewhat resigned tone.

Harry, on the other hand, smiled a wide smile back at her. "Hi Luna. I missed you on the train yesterday. How was your Christmas?"

"Oh, it was wonderful, Harry. Christmas is my favourite time of year. Daddy cooked a Christmas goose with all the trimmings, and his dirigible plum pudding was the best he's ever made."

"_Dirigible plum?_" Hermione mouthed at Ron, who raised his eyebrows back to her.

Luna continued, either not noticing Hermione or not caring. "And before we opened our presents, Daddy dressed up in his Father Christmas suit."

Ron piped up, "Did he have a miniature sleigh pulled by eight tiny Kacky Snorgl… _oof_…"

Harry elbowed Ron in the belly at that comment.

Luna laughed. "You're silly, Ronald. Crumple-Horned Snorkacks can't fly!"

Harry laughed with her. Ron and Hermione exchanged a look. Harry then added, "But Luna, reindeer can't fly either, yet Father Christmas's do. They're magical."

The blonde girl considered this excitedly. "So maybe he _could_ have flying Snorkacks on his sleigh!"

"Yeah, magical ones. Well, more magical ones."

"I must tell Daddy about that for next year. Thank you _so_ much for the idea, Ronald!" Luna beamed at Ron, who had no idea what to make of this.

"Er, your welcome," the redhead said.

Luna went on. "We decorated the tree with all kinds of decorations as well. It was wonderful, although it made me miss Mummy. Decorating the tree was always her favourite part of Christmas." Luna's voice got more subdued at this. Harry reached over to her and touched her arm in support.

She smiled a slight smile at him.

Ron and Hermione exchanged another look.

Luna's tone lightened, "Anyway, how was your Christmas? I was so happy to hear your father is making a full recovery, Ronald."

Harry noticed that Ron had the good graces to look somewhat sheepish for his earlier comments. "Thanks, Luna. We had a good Christmas, right guys?" Ron asked, looking at his friends, who nodded.

"Anyway, I really must get going, but before I do, I wanted to give you this, Harry," Luna said, pulling out from her book bag a small package no bigger than an teacup, wrapped in shiny silver paper. Handing it to him, she said, "I know it's after Christmas, but I thought you might get some use out of it."

Harry opened it, blushing slightly as Ron and Hermione continued to watch him, and Luna looked on with anticipation. What the package contained was a small string, wound through two butterbeer corks. The string wasn't long enough to fit over a wrist, let alone a neck as Luna's charm did.

Ron guffawed again. Harry shot him a _not now, Weasley_ look. Ron kept smirking, though.

Harry held the corks in his hands. "Thanks, Luna. Is it charmed like your necklace?"

"It is, although you don't have to wear it. Just keep it on you. That way you won't get Nargled," at which she let out a small giggle.

Harry smiled back at her, but looked shyly away from her face. "I will. Although I did like the other way of not getting Nargled."

Now it was Luna's turn to look away and answer quietly, "It was nice, wasn't it?" Louder, she said, "Well, I'm off to Charms. Bye everyone!" She turned and skipped away, humming a happy tune, the confused looks of Ron and Hermione following the girl along with the rather warmer gaze of Harry.

Harry turned back to his friends to see Hermione looking at him in bewilderment, and Ron looking like Harry had just grown a third head. "What in the bloody hell was that?" Ron said to him in a raised voice.

"Ron, _language_" Hermione hissed.

"I don't care, Hermione. _You_ saw how he and and Loony were flirting. What's going on, Harry?"

Harry's good mood evaporated. He said in hushed tones, "Keep it down, Ron. And don't call her 'Loony'. And we were not flirting. We were just having a conversation."

"Yeah, a conversation where you were off in your own world with her, she's giggling, you're touching her arm, she's giving you her weird cork charms, and you're making inside jokes about imaginary animals. Yeah, not flirting at all."

"We were just talking, Ron. And Nargles are sprites, not animals," Harry said offhandedly.

Ron responded vehemently, "You see? That's what I'm talking about. You're off your rocker, mate. You're acting as nutty as she is."

"She's not nutty, Ron. Just drop it." Harry walked off down the hallway, the cork charm still in his hand..

Ron looked at the brunette as they followed Harry. "_You_ see, don't you, Hermione?"

She once again just shrugged at Ron.

* * *

About a week later came the first meeting of Dumbledore's Army in 1996. Harry used it as a refresher for what they had learned the previous term, and for getting everyone back into practice after the Christmas break. The meeting was a short one, and as everyone left, he motioned at Luna to linger around.

Once everyone else had left, he went over to her. "Hi Luna."

Dreamily she replied, "Hello Harry. Have the Nargles been avoiding you?"

Harry smiled, "Yeah, no Nargle sightings so far."

"That you know of, at least. They're awfully mischievous. You should keep that charm on you, Harry."

"Actually, Luna, that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

The blonde girl's face fell. "Didn't you like it?" she said sadly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

Harry interrupted her, "No, Luna, it's not that. I thought it was great, and I do keep it on me." He pulled the charm out of his robes, showed it to her and smiled. When he saw her expression brighten again, he continued. "I just wanted to thank you again, and say I'm sorry I didn't get you anything."

"That's all right, Harry," she said. "I wasn't expecting anything in return for it. I just thought you might find it useful."

"I know. But I did want to do something. Can you meet me back here at eight?" he said hopefully.

She nodded her head. "What do you have planned?"

Harry was grinning now. "It's a surprise, and I know you'll like it. Trust me."

Quietly, she said, "I do trust you, Harry."

"Great, I'll see you at eight," he said, and hurried out of the Room of Requirement, still holding the cork charm.

* * *

When Luna Lovegood walked into the Room of Requirement shortly before eight o'clock that evening, Harry Potter was talking with one of the Hogwarts house elves, standing in front of a seven-foot long table covered with a bright red tablecloth, and ten covered small porcelain bowls.

Harry looked at the girl as she walked in, long blonde hair flowing down her back to her waist, her wand tucked behind her left ear, which he found really endearing, her butterbeer cork necklace and dirigible plum earrings on as always, silver eyes wide with anticipation. Objectively, Harry knew she looked no different than any other time Harry saw her.

Subjectively, he thought she was cuter than he had ever seen her.

Harry smiled at Luna and said, "I'm glad you came. I wanted to introduce you to my friend Dobby," he gestured to the elf. "He did most of the work setting this up. Dobby," turned to the elf, "this is my friend Luna Lovegood."

Dobby moved quickly over to Luna, grabbed her right hand with both of his, and shook vigorously "Dobby is _very_ pleased to meet another friend of the great Harry Potter," he said excitedly. "Anything Dobby can do for Miss Luna, just let Dobby know."

Luna smiled warmly at the elf. "I'm pleased to meet you too," she said. "Harry has told me all about you."

"Harry Potter is a good friend to Dobby, and great wizard. Dobby must go now, and will be back later to clean up. Enjoy!" And with that, the house elf popped out of the Room of Requirement.

Harry ran a hand through his hair. "Dobby's a little overblown on the flattery, but I couldn't have done all this without him."

She wandered over to the table. "And what is all this?"

"This," Harry said as he pulled the cover off of one of the bowls, "is pudding. I asked Dobby to bring us ten different ones to try."

Luna's large silver eyes widened further as she looked at him. "I _love_ pudding! It's my favourite food. Thank you Harry!"

He smiled. "Well, I wanted to thank you for keeping me Nargle-free. Grab a spoon. And dig in."

They each picked up a spoon, and stood on opposite sides of the table, the first bowl of pudding in front of them. Luna had the first bite. "Vanilla," she said.

Harry joined in. They ate in silence for a few minutes.

"Er, so how are classes, Luna?"

She finished off the vanilla, and they moved on to the second bowl, which was butterscotch. "They're going well," she said in her sing-song voice. "I'm working on a project for Professor Flitwick's class."

Between mouthfuls of butterscotch, Harry said, "Is it another one of your Quidditch hats?"

"No, I'm doing something different this time."

"That's a shame. I was hoping to see you top the lion hat. That was pretty cool." Luna's Gryffindor Lions hat, which roared when she touched her wand to it, had a lot of people laughing at her, but Harry was not among them. "Mind if I ask what you're working on?"

"No," she said, putting her spoon down and staring at him.

He stared back for a few moments, before he got where she was going. "What are you working on for your Charms class, Luna?"

She laughed gently at him, and started eating again. "It's a surprise. Maybe I'll show you when I'm done." Seeing the frustration on Harry's face, she said in a sing-song voice, "I didn't mind if you _asked_. That doesn't mean I was going to tell you!"

Harry wagged a finger at her. Luna laughed again, and continued, "How are your classes?"

"The usual. The only interesting development is that Professor Snape is giving me Occlumency lessons."

"I imagine that's difficult for you."

"Yeah. Snape hates me and is a right bastard," Harry said.

Luna shook her head, "I meant because you're easy to read."

"Maybe you're just very perceptive."

She laughed at that. "Thank you. I _am_, but you're still easy to read. You wear your heart on your sleeve."

Harry frowned. "Snape said the same thing."

"It's not a bad thing, Harry. I like that you're not deceitful."

There was a comfortable silence for a few minutes as they finished the butterscotch, and moved to the next bowl. Harry removed the cover, and shook his head. "I should have been clearer to Dobby."

Luna looked in the bowl, and saw a thick dark sausage in the bowl. She raised an eyebrow at Harry. "Black pudding?"

"I thought he knew I meant dessert puddings. Want to move on?"

Luna considered this. "No, Dobby went to all this trouble. We should at least try it."

Harry concentrated, and a knife and fork appeared in front of each of them. "Dobby's going to love you," he said, cutting into the sausage.

"He has good taste," she said playfully, and tried the food herself.

"I agree." Luna blushed when Harry said that. As he swallowed the sausage, he said, "This, however, does _not_ taste good. I think I'll pass on any more of this."

Luna swallowed hers. "I think it's o.k. Needs sauerkraut, though. We'll have to get Dobby to put that out next time."

Harry smiled at Luna saying she wanted a 'next time'. "Black pudding and sauerkraut. Something to look forward to."

They moved on to the next bowl. "Rice pudding," Harry said. "Much better."

"I agree."

After a few minutes more of silence and pudding, Luna asked him how his other classes were going.

"Well, Defence Against the Dark Arts is the biggest waste of time imaginable. I hate that my favourite class is being wrecked by Dolores Bloody Umbridge."

"She really does seem to hate you," the blonde Ravenclaw said with concern in her voice.

Harry grimaced. "I know. I worry about the fallout if she ever finds out about the D.A. She'll probably expel me."

"I don't know that word," Luna said. Seeing Harry's raised eyebrow, Luna clarified, "'_Fallout'_. I've only ever heard people raised by Muggles use it. I can work out what you mean by it, but I'm not familiar with it."

"It's a Muggle concept. Radioactive dust made by a nuclear weapon."

"Radioactive?" she said confusedly.

He waved his hand at her. "Hermione can explain the science better than I ever could."

Luna's face fell. "Hermione doesn't like me very much."

Harry tried to reassure her. "She doesn't dislike you. She just doesn't know you yet. Once she does, I'm sure she'll like you almost as much as I do."

That got a wide smile from Luna.

After a moment, she asked, "Nuclear weapon?"

"It's a Muggle bomb. Picture a small sun briefly appearing over a city and completely destroying it."

Luna's eyes widened in shock. "A whole city?" At Harry's nod, she went on, "And _Muggles_ have these?"

Harry nodded. "Tens of thousands of them. Aimed all over the globe."

"That's horrible!" Luna exclaimed, not in her usual nonchalant voice, but in genuine horror. "Imagine if You-Know-Who got some."

Harry frowned, less at the worrying concept of an Atomic Dark Lord as much as at watching his carefully planned time with his blonde Ravenclaw friend be ruined by discussing global thermonuclear annihilation. "I don't think he'd use them. Too Muggly."

Luna laughed at 'Muggly'.

Harry continued, "But I really don't want to talk about nukes over pudding. Maybe you should ask Professor Burbage about them," referring to the Muggle Studies professor.

"I don't think she'd be much help, Harry. She's enthusiastic, but I don't think she really knows much about Muggles at all. She's not a very good teacher."

"She's better than Umbridge."

"That's setting the bar rather low, don't you think?"

Harry nodded at that. They moved to the next bowl, which was a maple pudding.

After a few moments, Luna looked at Harry with a very serious expression on her face and put down her spoon. Harry gave her his complete attention at that. Her voice took on a more serious tone than Harry had ever heard from her. "Harry, I believe that the highest echelons of the Department of Magical Education are in an organized conspiracy with the Hogwarts Board of Governors to ensure we get a substandard education. I believe that the Ministry's campaign against you is designed in part to take down Headmaster Dumbledore. I believe that this conspiracy explains the succession of ineffective D.A.D.A. teachers we have had, other than Professor Lupin in my second year, and I believe this explains why the only truly competent teachers we have are Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, Vector and Babbling. I fear that this conspiracy will either replace them, or put them under the Imperius Curse to make them teach poorly."

Harry was nonplussed at this. Not only was this the most he had ever heard Luna say at one time, and the most serious he had ever seen her, but it made a certain amount of sense. For what was the premiere magical school in the British Isles, Hogwarts had some truly atrocious professors, be they Death Eaters, well-meaning lushes like Professor Trelawney, or even genuine prodigies like Professor Snape who simply hated their students. He had never considered that this was planned rather than due to simple incompetence and routine mismanagement, but now he would have a hard time _not_ thinking it.

This was the kind of insight he frequently saw in Luna, and that he wished others would pay attention to. There was a reason that the blonde girl was sorted into the "smart house".

Luna looked at him expectantly. "Please say something, Harry."

Harry responded slowly. "I have _never_ thought of that before. I think it's brilliant and explains a lot. My question would be what the aim is."

"Isn't it obvious? Other than to sideline the Headmaster by getting you expelled, to reduce the capability of potential enemies of the Ministry to oppose its agenda," she explained.

"Its agenda?"

"Its agenda to support He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in taking over the Wizarding Community of Britain." Harry nodded at this possibility. "And the Rotfang Conspiracy."

That caused Harry to raise an eyebrow. "Rotfang Conspiracy?"

Luna said to him in a reassuring voice, "Everyone knows about the Rotfang Conspiracy, Harry. The Aurors are trying to bring down the Ministry of Magic using Dark Magic and gum disease."

Now _that_ was pure Luna. Harry said carefully, "Well, I don't know if I agree with the Rotfang Conspiracy. I know some Aurors, and I can't imagine them using dark magic."

"Maybe they haven't been corrupted by the other Aurors yet," she said hopefully.

"Maybe," Harry said. "But the other one about substandard education makes a lot of sense to me. Have you told your father about it?"

"I did. He didn't want to publish anything because he thinks he'll endanger me if he does. He said my safety is more important," she said with a frown.

"For what it's worth, I agree with him."

She shook her head. "That's sweet, Harry, but you're wrong. The truth, and the cause of right, are more important than my safety. Isn't that what the D.A. is all about?"

Harry considered this. "You're probably right, Luna."

She smiled at him, and in her sing-song voice, said, "I usually am. Daddy is going to interview all my professors under the guise of normal parent-teacher interviews. I bet he'll blow this story wide open," she said with pride.

"I hope so."

"You should meet my father, Harry. He'd like you."

"I'd like that," Harry answered.

They finished off the maple pudding, and moved to the sixth one. "Ugh. I hate tapioca," Harry said.

"More for me," she said happily.

She ate the tapioca while Harry watched her. He found her enthusiasm for all this pudding really quite endearing, and wondered where she put it on her slight frame. He was quite proud of himself for arranging this for her.

After a few minutes, Luna began speaking, once again in her serious voice, although not taking her eyes off her pudding. "Most people think I'm mad when I talk about conspiracies, Nargles, and Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. They laugh at me and call me 'Loony'. It's very cruel," she said evenly. "But you don't. Why is that?"

Harry answered gently, "You're my friend. I would never laugh at you and call you names, Luna. I hope you know that."

She looked at him and smiled. "I do know that, Harry. But I also know when someone is simply being polite and humouring me. You don't do that. You actually consider what I say, even if you don't agree. Why?"

She stared at him as he considered his answer.

"I grew up with Muggles, right?" Luna nodded. Harry went on, "Until five years ago, I didn't know magic existed. In the last five years, I have encountered elves, basilisks, trolls, hippogriffs, mermen, goblins, ghosts and dragons. I have been attacked by Dark Wizards. I am currently the object of a conspiracy by the government and the press, excepting only _The Quibbler_," (Luna nodded at this) "to paint me as a delusional madman, and a concerted effort to get me expelled from the only magical school in this country."

Harry took a breath and continued. "I couldn't have imagined any of this five years ago. I can't even imagine all the things I haven't encountered and don't know about yet. With my experiences, to reject the things you believe in out of hand, without even considering them, would be just stupid, and likely get me killed."

Moments later, he felt Luna launch herself across the table at him and wrap her arms around him in the tightest hug he'd ever received. Her mouth was right next to his ear, and her long blonde hair was covering his face. "Thank you, Harry, thank you," she said very quietly to him. "You have _no_ idea how long I've waited to have anyone think that."

"It's the truth," he said softly in her ear.

"I know. You're so sweet." She sniffled. "All I've ever wanted is for people to consider what I say. Thank you so much."

She wasn't letting go of him, and Harry didn't mind at all. As he held her in his arms, and felt her chest heaving against him as she breathed heavily, he was surprised at how small and slight she felt, even through her school robes, and how nice it was holding onto her. How good it felt, how right it felt.

He felt her long, soft hair in hands, and with his face buried in her hair, inhaled her scent. It smelled wonderful, like vanilla and lilacs, and something else which could only be the essence of Luna. He didn't want to remove his face from her hair. Fortunately for him, she seemed to be in no hurry to let go.

They stayed like that for a while, before she let go of him. Instead of going back to the other side of the table, she just stood right next to him. "Sorry about that," she said quietly.

"Don't be. It was really nice."

"It was."

She pointed to the bowl of tapioca pudding, which had been knocked over when she came across the table at him. "Whoops," she said, giggling.

They ate the next bowl, which was figgy pudding, side by side, in complete but pleasant silence.

The eighth one was a plum pudding. Harry asked, "So is this better when the plums are normal or dirigible?"

Luna considered this. "Dirigible is better. It feels lighter," she said, looking at him with a twinkle in her eye.

He laughed.

"Do you believe in Nargles, Harry?" she asked lightly.

"Well, I've never seen one."

A small smile. "That's not an answer."

"I know. I honestly don't know if I do."

"It must have been embarrassing for you when I gave you that charm in front of your friends," she said sheepishly.

"You never embarrass me, Luna."

"Thank you," she said, smiling slightly. "I would have given it to you privately, but I didn't want it to disappear like some of my other possessions before I could."

Harry said seriously, "It's not always Nargles, is it?"

Quietly, "No, it's not."

Harry felt a pang in his heart, for this poor, sweet girl who suffered so much at the hands of her housemates, who were supposed to be her support at Hogwarts. She had never done anything to deserve the horrible treatment she got. He made a pact with himself to do whatever he could stop the cruelty to her if he could, and make sure she knew she mattered to people. Him, in particular.

She asked him another question. "If you don't believe in them, then why keep the charm I made for you?"

They moved onto the next bowl, sticky toffee pudding, while he answered. "Part of it is simply, better safe than sorry. Part of it is that someone I trust says it's a good idea." He smiled at her. "Part of it is that, you can see thestrals, and virtually no one else can. So that's an argument in favour of Nargles." Then, more quietly, "But mostly, it reminds me of you."

He couldn't look at her after that, but felt her give him another warm hug.

After another little while, he said, "By the way, I avoided any Nargly situations with mistletoe over Christmas."

She chuckled at 'Nargly'. "Why?"

Softly, "Someone special asked me to. I didn't want to disappoint her."

She hugged him again. He could get used to this. "I don't think that you could," she said.

They ate the last bowl, chocolate, in total silence until it was finished. "That one was my favourite," Luna said.

"Mine too."

"I've never eaten so much pudding in my life!"

He smiled. "I'm glad I could oblige."

"I'll have to thank Dobby for all of this. But we have to go, Harry, it's probably after curfew. I don't want to get you expelled over pudding!" she said.

Harry's smile turned into a wide grin. "I don't think we have to worry about that. Let me show you something." He pulled out his Cloak of Invisibility, and put it over him. She stared at him wide-eyed as he disappeared. Removing it, he motioned towards her. "Stand close to me."

She did, probably closer than she really needed to, but he saw no need to discourage her. He pulled it over both of them.

"This is incredible! I often feel people don't see me," (that got a chuckle from Harry) "but I've never been _truly_ invisible."

He then pulled out the Marauders' map, and incanted, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." The map came to life.

"Where do you get all these wonderful things, Harry?" she asked.

"My father," he beamed.

They moved silently towards the Ravenclaw common room, successfully avoiding caretaker Argus Filch. Luna practically molded herself to him during their journey through the halls. Harry hoped she didn't see how wide he was smiling.

When they arrived at the Ravenclaw room, Luna put her arms around him, kissed his cheek, and said quietly, "This is my stop," giggling lightly at her witticism. "Thank you for the wonderful evening, Harry. We _will_ do this again soon, I hope?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

She squeezed his hand and slipped out from under the cloak.

Harry didn't _really_ float all the way back to the Gryffindor common room, but it felt that way.


	3. Photographs

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers apply. Expression: mine. Everything else: not so much.

Protection From Nargles

Part 3 - Photographs

_January, 1996._

Harry Potter hadn't really talked with Luna Lovegood in the week since the evening shared ten bowls of pudding in the Room of Requirement. He would see her in the Great Hall at dinner most evenings, and they would always wave and smile broadly at one another across the hall, but other than her saying a warm "Hello" when they passed one another, they hadn't spoken at all.

Harry aimed to change that. He didn't quite know when it happened, but a week without Luna had become a long time indeed for the young wizard. One that needed to be cut short.

That was why he found himself walking down a nearly forgotten hallway in the upper levels of Hogwarts. He saw a long cascade of sandy-blonde hair atop a short girl at the other end of the hallway, facing the wall, and moved quietly up to her.

"Hello Harry," she said in more subdued voice than he was used to hearing from her. She wasn't looking at him. "I didn't expect anyone to find me up here."

Harry blushed. "I used my father's map," he said sheepishly.

Luna sighed. "I'm never going to be able to hide from you ever again, am I?" she asked quietly.

Harry was taken aback. This was not going as he had hoped. "I'm sorry, Luna, I didn't mean to bother you. I'll just leave you be." He began to turn away from her, when a small hand reached out to stop him.

"You don't have to go. I'm not hiding from _you_," she said sadly.

"Then what..." Harry stopped. He looked at her right hand, still holding his arm. There was a bandage around it. His heart sank. "_Umbridge_," he said, his voice cold and full of loathing.

She nodded, still not looking at him. A small sob escaped her lips.

"Come here," he said, and wrapped his arms around her in what he hoped was a comforting hug. She cried softly into his shoulder, as he softly told her, "You did nothing wrong. That horrid woman..."

Luna sniffed some more, and let Harry hold her for a few minutes more. He'd never seen her cry before, and it nearly broke his heart. Fortunately, no one came by to taunt her. He probably would have hexed with extreme prejudice anyone who dared be cruel to her at this moment.

He took the opportunity to smell her hair again. Less vanilla and lilac than last time, more essence of Luna. It must have happened the night before, and she must have been too distraught this morning to do much with it.

Her crying slowly waned, and he said into her ear, "Do you want to talk about it?"

She pulled away from him, and wiped her nose with a small pink handkerchief. Her large silver eyes were puffy from the crying, and her cheeks were streaked with tears. "I really don't at the moment, Harry. Maybe another time."

"I'll be here whenever you want to talk about it," he said.

"I know." She gave him a small smile and turned back to the wall.

He must have been down this hallway before, in one of his nocturnal wanderings, but he had no specific memory of it. Lining the walls were pictures of Hogwarts graduates past. They moved as he watched them, as most photographs in the wizarding world did. His eyes naturally went to Gryffindor '78, and saw his parents smiling at him. Harry couldn't help but smile back.

Luna looked at him, and saw where his eyes had gone. "That's why I come here when things are bad. It's the only place where I can see my mother at Hogwarts."

She pointed to the Ravenclaw '74 frame. Astrid Beauchamp. The woman in the picture looked a lot like what Harry imagined Luna would look like at age 18, although she had golden blonde hair as opposed to Luna's sandy blonde hair. Her eyes were the same silver colour as Luna's, and she had a wide smile.

"Your mother was really pretty, Luna."

Luna nodded. "She was beautiful, Harry. I miss her so much." She sniffed. "I had brought a picture of her and me together, when I came here in first year. It disappeared. I never got it back. Thankfully it was only a copy. I didn't want to lose any more photos of her, so..." Luna did not continue, but sniffed again.

Harry reached out and held her right hand gently, being careful not to squeeze, or apply pressure to the bandages. Not for the first time, he vowed that he would do what he could to stop the cruelty to his young friend, or at least to mitigate it.

He didn't let go of her hand. She didn't let go of his. With her left one, she pointed to Hufflepuff '69. "That's Dad."

Xenophilius Lovegood, or at least the version of him from twenty-seven years previously, was a serious looking young man, with short dirty-blonde hair. His picture smiled a tight smile at Harry. Harry had a hard time reconciling the young man in the photo with the mental image he had of the editor of _The Quibbler_.

Harry pointed to Gryffindor '78. "Those are my parents. Lily Evans and James Potter."

Luna looked at them. "Your father looks like you, although I've never seen you look quite as smug as that photo. Your mother looks very pretty and kind. She looks a little like Ginny."

Harry did not expect that.

Luna must have picked up on his shock. "Come on, Harry, you must be able to see it. They have almost the same shade of hair. Similar shaped faces. _Ooooh!_" she exclaimed brightly. "Maybe you're related! Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Well, you have no family except for the _Dursleys_." She said their name like he had said _Umbridge_ before. "If you're related, you'd have a large loving family, even if only distantly. You could be cousins with Ginny and Ron!" Luna seemed very pleased at this prospect.

"Mom's parents were Muggles. The Weasleys are purebloods. I doubt we're related."

"Well, it could be very distant. You should research that, Harry."

Harry looked back at the picture of his mother, smiling and waving. Maybe there was a bit of a resemblance.

Now he couldn't unsee it.

"I wonder if they knew each other?" he asked.

Luna looked at him questioningly. "Oh, I'm sure they must have, Harry, otherwise how would you have been born?"

Harry's eyes got wide, and he burst out laughing. He couldn't see Luna's reaction, as his eyes were full of tears, so he wasn't quite sure if she was joking or not. Either way, he was grateful for the laugh – this was one of the things he'd missed most this past week.

Wiping the tears from his eyes, he saw Luna smiling at him. Smiling back, he said, "I meant your parents and mine."

"I know. I asked Mummy once, when I was little." She must have seen his raised eyebrow, as she explained, "You have to remember, you were the most famous child in Wizarding Britain. Everyone had heard of you." Harry nodded at that. "Mummy never met your mother, but she remembered docking Gryffindor thirty-five points because your father and his friends wouldn't stop tormenting some poor boy. Mummy was a prefect," she said by way of explanation.

Harry looked a little embarrassed at that. "Dad and his friends were pranksters. I guess they crossed the line into bullying sometimes."

She said gently, "I'm glad you're not like that, Harry."

He sighed. "I was bullied as a child, too. I know what that's like."

"That doesn't stop some people, though," she said sadly.

He merely nodded.

She pointed to Slytherin '78. "There's Professor Snape," she said.

Harry looked at his number one nemesis on the Hogwarts staff. _Number two, now_, he thought, light running his thumb over the exposed skin of Luna's bandaged hand, which he still held. _Did she just shudder?_ He looked back at Luna. _No, she can't have. She's smiling._

1978 vintage Severus Snape was a thin boy, same hair as now, same sneer, but didn't look quite as haunted as the 1996 version. Harry then look back at his father's smug (_yes, Luna was right, Dad did look smug in that photo_) smile. Snape had never had a kind thing to say about Harry's father. Arrogant. Entitled. _Bully_.

Harry needed to talk to Sirius about that. Harry had heard many wonderful things about his father, but it seemed he had a cruel side.

Luna brought him back to reality. "I was almost hoping instead of that," she nodded at the future Potions Master's photo, "we'd see Disco Snape instead."

Harry found himself bursting into laughter for the second time in a few minutes. Collecting himself, he questioned, "Disco?"

Luna smiled. "One of my roommates, Morgana Dempster, did a project for Muggle Studies last term on Disco. She showed us a picture of some Muggle actor in a white suit pointing to the sky in a ridiculous pose. She said it was from some Muggle film – _Saturday Night Cholera_, or something like that – from about that time."

Harry nodded in acknowledgement. He hadn't seen the film, but he had seen the picture of the actor.

"Can't you see Professor Snape in that outfit, Harry?"

He laughed again. _That_ was an image he would have a hard time getting out of his head next Potions class.

"You're incorrigible, Luna."

She smiled broadly at him. "You're so sweet, Harry."

"Morgana," he said to Luna. He thought he could picture the girl. Small. A little pudgy. Short dark hair. Didn't smile much. "Is she one of the ones who..." he trailed off.

Luna shook her head. "No, she's all right. She calls me 'Loony', of course, nearly everyone does, but there's no malice in it."

They looked at the photos on the wall for a while in silence. Luna pointed to Hufflepuff '61. "Look, there's Professor Umbridge."

Two things struck Harry. One, Dolores Bloody Umbridge, tyrant, sadist, sycophant of Cornelius Fudge, was a Hufflepuff. Two, the girl in the photograph, while still as unattractive (if more fresh-faced) as the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, was smiling and looking happy. She looked like a pleasant girl who wouldn't have a mean thing to say about anyone. Someone who would have been fun to know.

"What happened to her?" he asked in bewilderment.

"Life, probably," Luna said resignedly. She looked at her bandaged hand, which Harry was still holding.

Harry blushed. He began to let go, but she squeezed. He stayed where he was.

"I'm glad you found me today," she said softly.

"So am I." He grinned at her. "Plus, I don't remember when I've laughed so much."

Harry continued. "I was actually looking for you for a reason. I was hoping..." he trailed off. She looked expectantly at him. "Are you... doing anything tomorrow night?" She shook her head. "Want to go for a walk with me? I'll bring my cloak."

She smiled at him and said, "Yes, I do."

Harry felt relieved. "Good. I'll pick you up eight outside the Ravenclaw common room. Wear your jacket and boots, o.k.?"

She nodded, and pulled him in for another hug.

He closed his eyes, and concentrated on the feeling.

"Thank you again," she whispered in his ear, and kissed his cheek.

He smiled at her again, and reluctantly let go of Luna's hand. "I have to go now. I wish I didn't, but I told Hermione I'd study with her. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Eight o'clock", she said, smiling.

* * *

Studying with Hermione had been difficult for Harry. Not due to the company, of course – Hermione could be a pushy witch, but there was virtually no one he trusted as much to have his back. No, the difficulty was in Potions, which was not Harry's favourite subject by far. The fact that Professor Snape loathed him didn't help. But Harry was determined to improve his grade in Potions this year. He wanted to become an Auror, and so he needed an 'O' on his N.E.W.T.s. Which meant he needed an 'O' on his O.W.L.s. He wanted to stay on Snape's good side so that Snape wouldn't stop teaching him Occlumency. And quite frankly, for all that Snape thought Harry was an arrogant, entitled rule-breaker who got by solely on his fame and a certain amount of luck, at least Snape didn't think he was delusional, and at least Snape agreed that Voldemort was back. That had to count for something.

But Potions was something he had to work at, and work hard. Hermione Granger, the so-called 'Smartest Witch of Her Age', was a valuable ally to have when trying to make sense of the subject. So they spent the evening library studying diligently, being the good students they (sometimes, in Harry's case) were. When Madame Price kicked them out at closing time, she seemed surprised Harry was there, but almost pleased.

Harry had a nice chat with Hermione on the way back to the Gryffindor dormitories. She was talking about some reading she was doing on discoveries that Yugoslavian wizards had made in the late '80s on magical properties of medieval Glagolitic runes. "Of course," she said, "they'd be Croatian wizards now. Or Bosnian ones. And nothing much has been done since then, because of the wars..."

Hermione noticed the look on Harry's face. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

Harry looked somewhat ashamed and shook his head.

"Don't you pay attention to the news, Harry?"

Harry sighed. "At home, Dudley always wanted to watch action movies, so we didn't watch the news, and Uncle Vernon didn't let me read the paper. And it's not like we get the _Guardian_ or the _Daily Telegraph_ here in the castle. I refuse on principle to read the _Daily Prophet_. And _The Quibbler_ doesn't have a strong international news section."

"You read that rubbish now?" Hermione looked horrified.

"Luna gives me copies," he said.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Of course. You realize it's complete poppycock."

Harry sighed. "I'll admit that some of their stories are a little out there."

"Goblin pies, Harry?"

"O.K. A lot out there. But it's no less fictional that what the _Daily Prophet_ has been printing for years. And until Hogwarts starts subscribing to the _King's Lynn Magical Shoppers W__eekly_, it's no worse than any other source of information."

Hermione had to concede that point.

"Plus it's got a good section on runes, its editorial cartoons are funny, and it's consistently supported me since You-Know-Who returned. So, odd as _The Quibbler_ is, I'll continue to support a magazine that has supported me, and one that matters a lot to a friend of mine."

"All right, you don't need to rant at me, Harry," she said in what she hoped was a mollifying tone.

"Sorry. Just don't call it rubbish around Luna, o.k.? She doesn't need to hear that."

"O.K.," his brunette friend said. She then just looked at him as they walked in silence for a few minutes. "_King's Lynn Magical Shoppers Weekly_?"

Harry smiled. "Shut up," he said teasingly. "It's better than 'Glagolitic'..."

"Glagolitic is a real alphabet, Harry!" Hermione then went on to explain exactly what it was in exhaustive detail.

Harry smiled. It was a good change of topic, and his friend was always happiest when explaining things.

* * *

Later that night, Harry was sitting in the common room vaguely watching Ron Weasley play Wizard's Chess with Neville Longbottom, but not paying much attention. He was off in his own world, thinking about Potions, Glagolitic Runes, Luna, Quidditch, his lifetime ban from Quidditch, Luna, Umbridge, detention, blood quills, Luna, his parents, young Snape, Luna, mistletoe, Luna...

As he was thinking about these multiple topics, and one topic more than others, he found himself idly rolling the butterbeer cork charm he got from Luna in his left hand as if it were a pair of Chinese worry balls. He found that rolling it around in his hand helped him focus his thoughts, although his mind seemed to focus more on the girl who gave him the charm than anything else.

Ron looked over at Harry, seeing his friend lost in thought, and saw what he was playing with. "Bloody hell, Harry, you still have that thing?"

Harry blushed as Neville looked over at him. "What thing?"

Before Harry could respond, Ron answered. "Loony Lovegood gave him one of her nutty cork charms for Christmas. To 'keep away the Nooglers'," Ron laughed.

"Nargles," Harry said automatically, "and would you please stop calling her 'Loony'?"

Ron just smirked at him, "Sorry, _Luna_." He looked back at Neville, and moved a piece. "Check."

Neville frowned and moved one of his own pieces. He spoke to Harry, "Does it work?"

Harry knew Neville was teasing him, but not cruelly, so he played along. "Well, I haven't seen any Nargles lately."

Ron snorted and said to Harry, "Have you had that thing on you for two weeks?" He then put Neville into check again.

"Not all the time," Harry answered embarrassedly.

Neville moved as Ron laughed, "Yeah, you probably put it down when you go into the shower, eh Harry?"

"Shut up, Ron," Harry said exasperatedly but good-naturedly.

Ron's knight took Neville's bishop. Neville moved a piece. While Ron was contemplating his next move, Neville asked, "So did you get her anything?"

Ron turned to Harry, his smirk not leaving his face and said, "Yes, Harry, did you get her anything? A can of Kacky Snorgle repellent, maybe?" He laughed at his own joke.

"I did not get her _Snorkack_ repellent," Harry said evenly, as Ron laughed again at Harry's clarification. Harry could tell Ron was really enjoying this game. "I got her pudding."

Ron nodded his head, "Good gift, Harry. Tastes great, everyone loves it, costs you nothing, you just give her a bowl in the Great Hall and you're done. Smart. She got the better of the deal too."

_Leave it to Ron to think one bowl of pudding was a better gift than a homemade charm_. Harry didn't feel the need to tell Ron about the full extent of his pudding night with Luna.

Ron made his next move in the game, and shouted, "Checkmate! That's three-and-oh, Neville. You owe me a butterbeer next Hogsmeade weekend." Ron turned to Harry. "I'm hitting the showers and turning in. See you boys tomorrow." The redhead bounded upstairs.

"Want to play, Harry?" Neville asked.

"Sure," he said, taking over Ron's chair. They made a few opening moves in silence. When it was time for Harry's fourth move, Neville asked, "So you and Luna?"

Harry groaned. "Not you too. We're just friends," he said, which had the virtue of being true. Sort of. Harry made his move.

Neville contemplated his turn, moved, and then when Harry was concentrating, Neville asked, "Still, she's protecting you from Nargles, you're giving her pudding... _just_ friends?"

Harry said nothing.

Neville continued, "Hey, I think it's great either way. Luna's nice. You could do a hell of a lot worse."

Harry moved. Neville smiled and responded almost immediately by taking one of Harry's pawns. Harry said, "She's a good friend. I like hanging out with her. She makes me laugh."

Neville looked at him seriously. "You're not laughing _at_ her, are you?"

"No!" Harry answered hurriedly. "I think she has a wicked sense of humour." Harry moved a bishop.

"Good. I spar with her a lot in the D.A. She doesn't deserve to be laughed at. I didn't think you would, but I had to ask." Neville made a move.

Harry considered the board. "I'd never laugh at her." Neville nodded.

After a few more moves, Neville waited for Harry to be deep in concentration, before he said his next comment. "I think I know why she gave you that charm."

Harry moved. "Other than saving me from the Nargles?"

Neville made his move. "She's marking you."

Harry sputtered. "_What__?_"

"She's showing the world you're hers. Like giving you a hickey." Neville looked at Harry and gave him a wicked grin. "Or peeing on you."

"Neville!"

The other boy laughed. "Well, maybe not like that. But I'd bet galleons to sickles she's marking you."

"I'm not taking that bet," Harry said. _Because I hadn't thought of that_, he thought.

Neville laughed again. "I'm right. You'll see. After all, you're keeping it on you. I'll bet it keeps more than just Nargles away. Make your move, Harry."

"What?"

"In the game, Harry! What did you think I meant?" Neville grinned at him.

Harry turned red again, which was happening all too frequently these days. He didn't say anything, but moved another pawn.

Neville laughed at Harry. "Anyway, as I said, whether I'm right or wrong, I think it's great. Luna's fun. Weird, yeah, but doesn't that make her more interesting?"

Harry thought about this. "Neville, would keep all this under your hat for me? _Especially_ your marking theory?"

"Mum's the word," Neville said seriously.

"Thanks. I appreciate it and Luna doesn't need the extra teasing."

"Right." Neville took another pawn of Harry's.

"So enough about me, Neville. You got your eye on any girls?"

Now it was Neville's turn to blush. "Yeah, there are a couple. There's one I really like, but she's younger than us. And taken."

"Who?"

Neville looked at Harry seriously. "If I said 'Luna', you'd deck me, right?"

Harry's eyes widened, and his smile disappeared.

Neville laughed. "You should see your face. No, not her." Harry relaxed as Neville moved forward and whispered. "Ginny. You _cannot_ tell Ron."

Harry said, "You're keeping my secret, I'll keep yours."

"Good. I had a lot of fun with her at the Yule Ball last year, although I don't think she liked my dancing," Neville said, the tone of his voice dropping.

"She enjoyed the evening, although she did say you kept stepping on her feet."

Neville frowned. "I mentioned that to my Grandmother. She made me take dancing lessons all summer long."

"How was that?"

Neville sighed. "Not bad. I got quite good at it by the end of the summer. I was hoping to get to use my skills this year but..."

Harry dropped his voice. "Our Glorious Inquisitor..."

"Right. Dancing's actually a lot of fun once you get good at it. Too bad my instructor was fifty-eight."

Harry laughed at that.

"Anyway, I like Ginny a lot. She's really pretty, and smart, and she treats me better than most girls do, but..."

Harry picked up Neville's train of thought. "She's seeing Michael Corner."

"Right." Neville sighed. "So I won't be tangoing her off her feet anytime soon."

The thought of Neville Longbottom doing the steamy Argentine dance with some girl brought an amused smile to Harry's lips.

"You never know when things will change. Anybody else catching your eye, Neville?"

Neville made another move. "Hannah Abbott's cute."

Harry considered the blonde Hufflepuff. "Yeah, I guess. I didn't know you knew her."

"We've talked after meetings. She's nice."

Harry smiled at his friend. "Well, use that Gryffindor courage, with either of them. You'll have to tell me how it goes."

"Same to you, Harry. I mean it, Luna's a great girl. Even if you _are_ just friends" (and Harry thought by Neville's tone that he didn't believe that in the slightest) "you should think about it. After all," Neville smirked now, "she's marked you."

"Neville..."

The taller boy laughed. "I'm right. You'll see."

They played the rest of the game quickly. Harry lost badly, but didn't mind.


	4. Moonlight

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers apply. Expression: mine. Everything else: not so much.

Protection From Nargles

Part 4 - Moonlight

_January, 1996._

Harry Potter was slowly moving down the hallway towards the Ravenclaw common room, covered in his Cloak of Invisibility, carrying a book bag. He was wearing a long winter jacket, snow boots, and a matching woollen stocking cap and scarf in alternating gold-and-red stripes. It was nearly 8:00 p.m., and he found himself far more nervous than he expected to be. He was planning on taking Luna Lovegood down to the shores of the Black Lake for a night-time stroll. This was nothing he hadn't done before with her – he had spent quite a few evenings with her over the fall term just walking around and chatting. However, all of those outings had been just them running into one another and deciding to walk together. This one, Harry had planned. He had asked Luna deliberately to do this with him. It was functionally no different than before, and yet it _was_.

Neville Longbottom grinning at Harry all day hadn't helped. Harry was glad to have Neville's support where his friendship (or whatever this was) with Luna was concerned, something he wasn't certain he would have from Ron or Hermione, but he could do without the pressure. And the "thumbs up" signal Neville gave to him at dinner when he saw Harry and Luna giving a slight wave at one another. Harry was just glad no one else saw Neville's gesture to him.

At some point he was going to have to talk to Ron and Hermione about this. Harry really did value their opinions, and he wanted to talk to them about what had been happening with Luna. He also wanted them to like her. He was worried, however, as he knew that Hermione found Luna's beliefs irrational and frustrating. Ron might be worse – he'd known Luna a long time, and while he didn't dislike her, he thought she was crazy and frustrating. For all Ron's wonderful qualities as a friend, he lacked the social graces to not make that obvious. If he wanted to be able to hang out with Luna more often, he knew he would have to get his friends' support. And teach Ron some manners.

But at the moment, he had a lovely girl he wanted to spend time with, so he tried to put all of this out of his mind while he negotiated his way down the hallways, trying not to run into any of the other students in the hallways. When he eventually got to the passageway to the Ravenclaw common room, he saw Luna standing there in her robes, smiling vaguely and looking around the hallways.

As he moved towards the blonde girl, he heard her humming the same cheery tune she was humming the day she gave him the anti-Nargle charm. He approached her and was about to say something when Luna whispered roughly in her direction, "Harry, is that you?"

He lifted up the Cloak in front of him to see her, and whispered, "Hi Luna. Join me?"

She got under the Cloak with him, and said to him, "My jacket is under my robes." Harry nodded, glad that Luna was trying to remain inconspicuous before their evening. They walked silently together until they came to the castle entrance. He was once again acutely aware of how close she was to him underneath the Cloak. He tried, only partly successfully, to suppress a smile.

When they got to the castle entrance, Luna led him into a secluded alcove, and got out from under the Cloak. She removed her school robes, revealing an explosion of clashing colours – a lime-green and cherry-red winter jacket that went down to her hips, bright royal blue leggings, and mismatched winter boots – the left one bright purple, then right one a dark violet. To top off her outfit, she pulled out a red, yellow, and orange woollen stocking cap with a small rainbow pom-pom on top from her jacket pocket, and placed it on her head. Her wand was tucked behind her left ear as always. None of the items of clothing she wore went with any of the others (Harry thought some didn't even go with themselves), but the whole outfit was just so... _Luna_, for lack of a better word, that it made him smile.

It occurred to Harry that he had only seen her out of her school robes twice – at the initial D.A. meeting, and when he had initially met Luna on the train at the beginning of the year. Not for the first time, he rued the arrival of Dolores Umbridge at Hogwarts, and her requirement that school robes be worn at all times. He liked seeing Luna in bright colours – it suited her far more than the black robes did.

She cast a quick _Reduci__o_ on her school robes, shoved them in her jacket pocket, and stepped back under the Cloak, taking what was become her regular position pressed up against Harry. They left the castle and went into the night air.

It was a crisp cold evening, with a temperature just below freezing, but the air was still, so they didn't have to worry about wind chill. Not that Harry was cold – with Luna so close to him under the Cloak as they walked, the heat radiating from her banished away any coldness that would try to claim him. He looked at her, and saw she wasn't wearing her usual dirigible plum earrings. What she was wearing instead looked like small chilli peppers hanging from her ears.

"I like your earrings, Luna. Are they new?"

She nodded. "I made them over Christmas. They're charmed to keep my ears warm, so I only wear them outside," she said dreamily.

"That's really cool," Harry said, admiringly. "You're good with charms."

"Thank you," she said. "Professor Flitwick says I have a gift for charms. I don't know if that's true, I just think it's fun to make things that do more than just look nice."

She then looked at Harry seriously, and said, "I could make you a pair, if you'd like. You wouldn't have to worry about your ears freezing."

"Uh, thanks, Luna, but I don't think they're my thing."

"They don't have to be peppers. We could use anything. Black currants, for example," she said helpfully.

"I meant earrings in general."

"Oh well," she said.

They weren't whispering anymore, as they were far enough from the castle that no-one else was around. They were still within sight of the castle, though, so he didn't want to take off the Cloak quite yet, and he liked having Luna so close to him as they walked.

"Where are we going?" she asked him.

"I thought we could go to the Black Lake. We haven't been there for a while."

"That sounds nice," she said. She once again began humming the same tune she had been humming previously.

"What is that you're humming, by the way? I've heard you hum it before."

She looked at him again and answered, "I don't know what it's called, but it's a tune Mummy used to whistle when I was little. I often find myself humming it when I'm feeling happy."

"Better day than yesterday?"

She nodded. "Classes were fun. Dinner was nice – I like Scotch eggs. And I had something to look forward to all day."

A small smile came to her lips at that. Harry reached out and lightly took her still-bandaged hand into his own.

They walked along the path to the lake. It hadn't snowed in a while, so the snow on the path was well-trodden. This was good, as he didn't want suspicious footprints showing up. The last thing he wanted was to get Luna another detention.

"Do you make all your own jewellery?" he asked her.

"Not all of it. I have a lot of Mummy's jewellery, from when she died. But I don't bring that to school, it's too important to me. If the Nargles take any of the jewellery I made myself, though, I can always just make more," she said resignedly.

Harry frowned at that. "Well, I think it's really cool you make your own earrings and such. They're really unique."

"Lots of people call me 'unique'. They usually mean '_strange_' when they say that, though," she said in her matter-of-fact tone. "Or '_touched-in-the-head_'."

He would have laughed at that in other circumstances. "That's not what I meant at all."

"I know," she said, squeezing his hand.

"I just meant they've really nice, and really _you_. I like them."

"I know," she repeated, quietly. "Thank you."

They walked on in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes. By this point they were out of sight of the castle, and so Harry took the Cloak off of them and stuffed it in his book bag. Luna reached out for his hand again after this was done, and while she was no longer pressed up against Harry as they walked, she was still close enough that Harry could still feel the heat radiating off of her.

Luna broke the silence. "My hand is feeling much better. Madam Pomfrey says there shouldn't be any scarring," she said, referring to the school healer. As if to demonstrate, she held Harry's hand tighter.

"I'm glad," Harry said. "You have nice hands."

Luna blushed at that.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" he asked.

"Not really," Luna said. She then proceeded to do so anyway. "Professor Umbridge insulted _The Quibbler_ in class on Tuesday. She called it a 'seditious rag not fit to line a cat box'."

"Oh no... what did you say?"

She sighed. "I didn't say anything. Then Lucretia Marquand, she's a Slytherin," she said seeing the questioning look on Harry's face, "shouted, 'That's Loony's father's magazine'." Harry lightly squeezed her hand. "Professor Umbridge then said Daddy was a liar, so I said that he wasn't. She then said that he _was_ a liar because he supported you, another liar. I said you were telling the truth, and she gave me a detention."

"Oh _Luna_," Harry said in a downcast voice, "you didn't need to defend me."

"I know, but teachers shouldn't tell students lies. It's _wrong_," she said emphatically. "And for detention, she made me write 'I must not tell lies' and 'I must not defend liars' with her quill..."

Harry gathered her in his arms. "I know, I know..." he said in what he hoped was a soothing manner. "Thank you for defending me, but please don't do it in front of that horrible woman. I don't want you to get hurt because of me..."

Luna said into his shoulder, "I would have done it even if I didn't know you, Harry. She's _evil_."

"I know. You're very brave. I just hoped you could stay under her radar."

She looked at him. "'Radar'?"

"Muggle device for detecting flying objects at a distance."

"Ah."

They continued walking together until they got to the shore of the lake. There was an irregular series of benches along the lakeshore, and Harry let Luna to an out-of-the-way one off to the left. He wiped off what little snow was on the bench, motioned for Luna to sit down, and sat down next to her. She scooted over to sit tightly pressed against him, and he smiled and looked at her. "We have to conserve body heat," she said sagely at him, "and confuse the Ice Brownies."

Harry's smile turned into a wide grin. He hadn't heard of a new magical creature from Luna in a while. Talking about these creatures no one else (excepting only her father and his readers, he thought) had ever heard of was something he knew Luna enjoyed, and he liked being her audience. He liked her joy, and he liked the glimpses into Luna's mind he got from these talks.

"I haven't heard of Ice Brownies before," he said earnestly. "What are they?"

"I'm surprised you haven't heard of them. I thought everyone had," she said patiently. "_The Quibbler_ had an excellent article on them in July."

"I wasn't reading it then."

"Oh, that explains it," she said. "Ice Brownies are tiny creatures which swarm around people in winter and leech heat out of them. By sitting next to each other, we can confuse them so they think we are one large creature which is likely to attack them. So this way they'll avoid us."

Harry smiled wider yet. "So is that why you're sitting so close?"

Luna looked away. "It's one of the reasons."

"Good."

Harry opened his book bag, which was charmed to have a larger space inside than it seemed on the outside. He pulled out a thick woollen blanket, and wrapped it around them. "Just in case the Ice Brownies feel courageous," he said.

"Good thinking," Luna said approvingly.

They looked out over the lake, which was partially frozen and covered in snow. The lake was open water starting about a hundred and fifty yards from the shore, and the waning crescent moon was reflected in the still water of the lake. The sky was clear, and the stars were only slightly obscured by the glow of the castle and Hogsmeade Village. The combination of snow, water, moonlight and clear sky was really quite beautiful, and Harry was glad he had picked tonight to be out there sitting with Luna.

They sat together under the blanket for a while, taking in the view, when Harry said to Luna, "I'm in a mood to hate the Ministry today, after what Umbridge did to you." He squeezed her bandaged hand at this. "Does your Dad have any scoops?"

Luna lit up at this. Harry knew that she like talking about her father's paper almost as much as she liked talking about mysterious creatures. "Well, Daddy says that unnamed sources say that Minister Fudge is trading unicorn horns and goblin pies to Lizard People from the star Thuban in exchange for them equipping his army of Heliopaths with wands even more powerful than the Elder Wand. There's going to be an article on it in the March issue, along with one on Crumple-Horned Snorkacks."

Harry raised his eyebrow. As was often the case when talking with Luna, this was a lot to take in at once. So he picked one topic. "Elder Wand?"

"You've never read _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_?"

Harry shook his head.

"I'll have Daddy send my copy for you to read. You might like it," she said brightly.

"Thanks, Luna. Lizard People?"

"Oh, they're up to no good. No one would deal with them until Cornelius Fudge became the Minister, but now they're always talking to the Ministry of Magic. Daddy says some people think they're infiltrating Muggle governments to try take over the world, but some people will believe anything, you know."

Harry suppressed a smile at that. He said, "They sound like space aliens. How does your father know all this?"

"I told you, Harry," she said patiently.

"Sources?" he asked.

"No, _unnamed_ sources."

Harry looked quizzically at her. "What's the difference?"

"Oh Harry," she said as if she were talking to a bright but ignorant child. "_Sources_ could be anybody. _Unnamed sources_ are ones who specifically don't want their names revealed in the media."

"O.K. That makes sense."

Luna continued. "There's also _inside sources_, which are people involved in the various organizations a story is about. A negotiator with the Lizard People would be an inside source. The best ones are _sources close to the Minister_, like Professor Umbridge, or someone from the OMM." Seeing Harry's expression, she explained, "The Office of the Minister of Magic. I learned all this from Daddy, of course – he's been a journalist since he graduated from Hogwarts."

Luna's explanation of the different types of sources made a disturbing amount of sense to Harry, which was a sensation he was rapidly getting used to.

"Did your father talk to any 'sources close to the Minister'?" he asked quite seriously.

She shook her head sadly. "No, he wasn't able to. That's o.k., though. Fudge probably has them all _Imperius_ed anyway."

"I wouldn't doubt it," he said honestly. "The whole Ministry of Magic is corrupt."

"I know. That's what Daddy tries to tell people. Too few listen, though."

"Don't I know it."

He reached into his book bag once again, and withdrew two blue mugs and a thermos. "I hope you like hot chocolate, Luna," he said as he poured the mugs.

She smiled widely, and took a mug from his hands. "Oh, marshmallows!" she exclaimed.

They drank their hot chocolate and gazed at the moon.

"I ran into Professor Trelawney on Monday," she said.

"How's she doing?"

Luna sighed. "Not well. Being sacked must have been hard on her. It's probably worse for her staying at the castle but not being able to teach."

Harry frowned. He thought Sybil Trelawney was a poor teacher and an ineffective diviner, but he also thought she didn't deserve to be fired in quite the way she was. The fact that Professor Trelawney was sacked by Umbridge made Harry sympathize with the former Divination professor more than he otherwise would have.

"Did she make any predictions for you? Give one of her usual foretellings of my imminent death?" He said this with a smile, but saw Luna frowning.

"You shouldn't joke about such things, Harry," she said seriously.

He looked at his boots sheepishly. "Sorry."

"It's not a topic I want to think about, Harry," she said, patting his arm. "Anyway, she didn't make a prediction, so much as mutter, 'the centre cannot hold'."

"That sounds ominous..."

"It is, but it's not a prediction. It's from a poem."

Harry looked at her uncomprehendingly.

"It's by an Irish Muggle called Yeats." She then began to recite in her sing-song voice.

_"Turning and turning in the widening gyre_  
_The falcon cannot hear the falconer;_  
_Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;_  
_Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,_  
_The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere_  
_The ceremony of innocence is drowned;_  
_The best lack all conviction, while the worst_  
_Are full of passionate intensity."_

By the end she was practically singing, in a cheerful, happy tune which was completely incongruous with the words of the poem.

Harry looked at Luna quizzically. He was reminded once again why his blonde friend was in Ravenclaw. "I didn't know you knew poetry, Luna."

"I know lots of things," she said with a slight smile.

"I know. It may have been poem that Professor Trelawney was quoting, Luna, but I think it's a prediction as well. Certainly better than her usual ones."

Harry sighed heavily, and Luna looked at him questioningly.

"I worry about the future, Luna. Voldemort is trying to kill me, the Ministry seems like it wants to help him, and I don't see things getting better anytime soon. Every year seems to get worse."

Luna looked sad at this, and Harry hastily continued, "Don't get me wrong. There are some things I've really liked about this year." He squeezed her hand and got a smile from her. "But it shouldn't be this way. Teachers shouldn't be making students mutilate themselves. The government shouldn't be monitoring letters from students. A school shouldn't have a High Inquisitor, for heaven's sake. Umbridge isn't even bothering to try to sugar-coat things with a name like that!"

Harry sighed again. "I sometimes think everything would have been better if I was never a wizard. If my mother never found magic either. Or if my parents had gone Muggle after Hogwarts and became accountants in Shropshire or something. Then they'd still be alive."

"Is the Muggle world any better?" she asked.

"Well, I'm sure some Muggle teachers are as brutal as Umbridge, but they usually don't carve up their students. And they don't try to set up some kind of British Inquisition. And there hasn't been any Muggle Dark Lords in a long time, in Britain, at least. Things are _bad_ here in the Wizarding World, and I think most people either don't notice or don't care."

"Some of us care, Harry. _I_ care," she said passionately.

He let go of her hand and put his arm around her and pulled her close. "I know, and you have no idea what that means to me."

"Thank you. Besides, if you weren't in the wizarding world, we never would have met. I'd miss you terribly," she said sadly.

"You wouldn't know me to miss me."

Exasperated, she said, "You _know_ what I mean."

"I know. Besides, we still might have met. I could have been hanging out with some of my Muggle buddies in some ice cream parlour or something, and seen you sitting there eating a sundae or something. Then I'd think to myself, 'I have to get to know that pretty blonde girl,' and introduce myself."

"But when you found out I was a witch, you wouldn't want to talk to me," she said, dampening his fantasy somewhat.

"Nah, I'd probably think, 'Hey, a cute witch who can turn rocks into toads. That's pretty cool'."

"But then you'd be back involved in the wizarding world," she pointed out.

"I guess," he said, defeated.

"And I wouldn't want to be a Muggle. And I don't think you really would either."

Harry smiled. "You see right through me."

"I told you I was perceptive."

After about a minute, she added in a more subdued voice, "You shouldn't tease me, Harry Potter. It's not nice."

Harry was confused. "I don't know what you mean."

"Saying I'm pretty. Or cute. I know that I'm not," she said sadly.

"Yes you are. I think you're very pretty," he said honestly.

"Seriously?" she asked. He nodded. She continued, "I think the wrackspurts have got to you, Harry. They're clouding your thinking."

Harry pulled her closer to him. "I swear they're not. You're really cute and pretty. Anyone who says otherwise, you included, is wrong." He blushed brightly while saying this, and hoped she didn't see how red he had got.

She smiled shyly at his words, and poked him in the chest. "You're biased because we're friends."

"So? What's the matter with being biased? It doesn't make it less true."

"I guess," she said, not sounding convinced. "If so, you're the only one who thinks so."

"I've been the only one who knows the truth before," he said.

She rested her head on his shoulders. "You're very sweet."

"I'm just trying to be honest."

He saw her shiver, and realized her neck was exposed. _She must be really cold_, he thought. He took off his scarf, wrapped it lightly around her neck, and pulled her back close to him. They sat like that, drinking their hot chocolate in the moonlight for a while. It felt very comfortable, and very natural to him.

Harry leaned his head into Luna's, and began speaking nervously. "There's a Hogsmeade trip next weekend." Luna nodded. "Are you planning on going?"

"Probably," she said hesitantly.

"W-w-would you like to go with me?"

She turned to look at him, her eyes wider than he had ever seen them.

_Dammit_, he thought, _this is almost as __nerve-wracking as facing Voldemort_. He continued talking. "As my date?" He hoped he sounded more confident out loud than he did in his head.

She broke into a wide smile, wrapped both her arms around him, and practically melted into him. "I would love to!" she exclaimed. "Oh Harry, no one has _ever_ asked me on date before!"

Savouring the feeling of her body pressed into him, he asked, "What about yesterday?"

She said quietly, "I _hoped_ tonight was a date. But I _know_ Hogsmeade is."

"I think it is. Tonight, I mean."

"Me too," she said dreamily.

He held her in the hug for a while, enjoying the moment and the feeling. Eventually, he poured them some more hot chocolate, wrapped his arm around her waist, and held her close on the bench, both staring at the moon and the lake.

"I don't know if I believe in the Lizard People," he said after a while.

"Wait until you read the March issue, Harry. You'll see," she said confidently.

"Dolores Bloody Umbridge is going to take it out on you, Luna, whether your father's sources are right or not." He squeezed her tightly to him as he said this.

"I know," she said sadly.

"I'll do what I can to deflect her."

She kissed him on the cheek. "You don't have to," and she put a finger to his lips before he could interrupt, "but I know you will anyway.

"It's beautiful tonight," she said, changing the subject. "The cool air, the ice, the lake..."

"The moonlight..."

That got another shy smile from her. She began humming her mother's happy tune again.

They cuddled for a while longer under the blanket until they heard voices coming up the path. Harry hastily covered them with his Cloak of Invisibility, and they sat very quietly. Eventually, the voices became clearer, and they saw Draco Malfoy walking with Pansy Parkinson. The two Slytherin prefects were very close together, and speaking quietly about the various holiday balls they had gone to over the Christmas break. Draco led Pansy over to a bench far from Harry and Luna, and they sat almost as close together as Harry and Luna did.

Harry was not used to this, seeing two people who were basically his enemies, enjoying a tender moment. Draco looked almost human sitting with Pansy and chatting intimately. Almost.

"I think we should go," Harry whispered at Luna.

Luna nodded, and said, "They seem to know how to ward off the Ice Brownies."

Harry gave a little chuckle at that.

They packed up and moved quietly, still under the Cloak, back towards the castle. Draco and Pansy were too busy with each others' company to notice them.

After a silent leisurely stroll huddled together under the Cloak, they arrived back at the castle. At the alcove at the entrance, Luna incanted _Engorgio_ her robes and put them on over her outfit. They then made their way under the Cloak to the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room.

"I had a really nice time tonight, Luna," Harry said. "I'm glad you came out with me."

She hugged him so tightly in response that he momentarily had a hard time breathing. "Me too," she whispered in his ear.

She began to take off his scarf, but he held up his hand to stop her. "I want you to have it," he said, nervously.

"Thank you," she said quietly, beaming at him. "I'll see you in the Great Hall tomorrow." She then kissed his cheek, left the Cloak, and went into the passageway.

As Harry made his way back to the Gryffindor common room, he quite unexpectedly found himself humming Luna's mother's tune.

* * *

_[Author's Note: The poem Luna quotes is __The Second Coming__, by W. B. Yeats. The 'Lizard People' are the Reptoids from David Icke's conspiracy theories. Both are thematically appropriate, I think.]_


	5. Charcoal

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers apply. The proper people have the proper rights over the proper things, and I do not, which is also proper.

Protection From Nargles

Part 5 - Charcoal

_January, 1996._

Hermione Granger was not happy, suffering through another Defence Against the Dark Arts class under Professor Umbridge. As usual, the class was reading from their textbook, _Defensive Magical Theory_ by Wilbert Slinkhard, making notes, and not doing much else. This was actually the more preferable scenario under Professor Umbridge, as the other option was listening to her put forth her views on the proper role of teaching, her views on the moral deficiencies of the students, and her views on the the delusions of Harry Potter. Wasting time copying a textbook was by far the lesser of two evils.

Hermione sighed. She was not used to thinking of any educational endeavour as a waste of time. Even Professor Binns' History of Magic class, which most other students thought was tremendously boring, usually held her attention. If asked, she would concede that Binns was an ineffective teacher, and that a fair amount of the historical minutiae he concentrated on was relatively pointless, but there were some interesting gems of information in there. History of Magic was dry, at least the way Binns taught it, but it was not pointless.

Unlike _this_.

The worst part of it was that Professor Umbridge had the core of a good idea. Hermione was convinced that with a solid grounding in defensive magic theory, Defence Against the Dark Arts could be learned far more successfully by students than it had been. Her experience with D.A.D.A. classes had been haphazard at best, given the instability in the teaching staff in the subject, but she knew that a good base of theory with the practical laid overtop of it would make it better for everyone.

But Professor Umbridge had made it clear there would be no practical component to her teaching. Without practice, the theory was completely useless. The students would fail their O.W.L.s, fail their N.E.W.T.s, and be completely defenceless against anyone trying to do them harm.

Fortunately, Harry was helping to do something about that.

She glanced over at her friend. He was looking intensely at his textbook and his parchment, but Hermione could tell his mind was not on his work. Harry had been behaving unusually these last few weeks – he was distracted, and except when he was dealing with Professor Umbridge, oddly happy much of the time. This puzzled Hermione somewhat, as the last year was not a good one for him. There had been no wholeheartedly positive events for Harry in 1995, as far as she knew – what would otherwise have been his greatest moment, his victory in the Triwizard Tournament, was irrevocably tainted by the death of Cedric Diggory and the return of Lord Voldemort. The rest of the year had been similarly awful for him.

And yet he was smiling a lot more recently, ever since Christmas. Perhaps he had simply had an excellent time with his godfather Sirius Black.

Or maybe it was because Dumbledore's Army had been so successful. Harry should rightfully be proud of that, in her mind.

The D.A. would have been unnecessary had it not been for Professor Umbridge's gutting of the Defence class. And even that couldn't be wholly laid at the feet of the woman at the head of the class. All of the changes being made at Hogwarts were the direct orders of the Department of Magical Education, and behind that door was the Minister of Magic.

_No_, Hermione corrected herself, _not the Minister but the whole Ministry_.

Britain's magical government was hopelessly corrupt and bigoted. It had pained Hermione greatly to find out the extent of it this last year. She had always been an idealist, and while she was a Muggle, at least, had always believed in authority and the rightness of that authority. Queen, Country, the Government, the Girl Guides, her school and teachers, and the good old Church of England, looking out for everyone and all doing their best. The results may not have been ideal all the time, but she didn't doubt the sincerity of most of the actors in the system. There may be bad apples here and there, but the system worked.

Hermione had learned that civic idealism directly from her parents. Theodore and Pauline Granger believed in the system, and believed the flaws in it could be fixed. Hermione's mother had even unsuccessfully stood for Parliament twice in the 1980s, under the banner of the old Social Democratic Party. Hermione recalled fondly that the her first real use of accidental magic had been at a rally for her mother in the 1987 campaign. Hermione was not yet eight, and was standing next to her mother, along with her father, on the platform where Pauline Granger was speaking. There was some heckler in the crowd trying to shout her mother down, and Hermione was just getting so angry at this rude man, that all she could think was _shut up shut up shut up_. And then the heckler wasn't shouting anymore, or at least he wasn't successfully shouting. His lips were moving, and he was wildly gesticulating, but no sound was emerging. Hermione could see him getting angrier and angrier, but at least she didn't have to hear him be rude to her mummy. Eventually he just left. That had been Hermione's first use of the Silencing Charm, even if she had no idea what she was doing at the time.

The Ministry of Magic was threatening to destroy that idealism in Hermione. The coddling of former Death Eaters had been bad enough before Voldemort had returned, but the wilful blindness of the Ministry to that return made her want to scream. Nearly expelling Harry for defending himself from a Dementor attack and engaging in a campaign of harassment against him was worse. But saddling Hogwarts with Dolores Umbridge, and giving her unlimited power to mould the curriculum, the culture, and the school itself was the last straw.

Hermione's trust in authority was broken, at least as far as the wizarding world was concerned. She hadn't yet had a chance to tell to her parents about her feelings, and what had happened, and feared how they would react. Would they pull her out of Hogwarts after her O.W.L.s? Would they even wait that long? Of course, it was probably a moot point anyway – if she told her parents, she was certain her owl would be intercepted before it could be delivered. Harry had learned that, the hard way.

She looked over at her friend again. He was no longer even pretending to do the pointless schoolwork they had been assigned, and instead was staring directly at Professor Umbridge. The Professor seemed not to notice this, which was a good thing in Hermione's mind, as she had never seen such a look on Harry's face. It was as if he was trying to melt her face off with the power of his mind.

She knew he hated Professor Umbridge, but the way he had reacted to her for the past three days went beyond hate, beyond despising. It looked to Hermione like a visceral loathing from the very core of Harry's being. She knew Harry hadn't had detention with her in a while, and she hadn't heard of any new 'Educational Decrees' or other such outrages in the last few days. She'd have to ask Harry what their professor thins time had done to warrant that glare he was giving her.

She knew her mind was likely playing tricks on her, but it seemed like Professor Umbridge had started sweating.

* * *

After Professor Umbridge's class mercifully ended, Hermione left class with Ron and Harry. Looking at Harry, Hermione asked him, "Why were you glaring at Professor Umbridge like that during class?"

"I hate her, Hermione," Harry said evenly.

"I _know_ that, Harry, but you were _really_ giving her a look of death. Did something happen? Something we should know?" she asked sincerely.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"But..." she began, and then noticed the look on Harry's face. She didn't continue.

"So," said Ron, trying to break the tension, "Hogsmeade next weekend. I have to meet Neville at the Three Broomsticks to collect on the butterbeer he owes me, but other than that I'm free. What are we going to do?"

Harry looked sheepish, "Yeah, about that, there's something I want to talk to you guys about..."

He then stopped talking, as the three friends saw Luna Lovegood happily skipping down the hallway in their direction, carrying a few textbooks. Hermione saw Luna wave enthusiastically at them when she recognized the three of them, a wide smile appearing on the blonde girl's face, and then saw Luna trip and fall down, face first on the cold cement floor, her books flying everywhere, and her wand spinning away from her.

About five yards behind the fallen Ravenclaw girl, Hermione saw a tall pretty brunette girl grinning evilly and hiding a wand in her robes. _The Trip Jinx_, thought Hermione sadly. She recognized the girl as Lucretia Marquand, a fourth-year Slytherin girl. Lucretia was now being loudly congratulated by two other girls for "taking down the weirdo".

Harry had rushed to Luna, and pulled out his wand menacingly. Luna looked up from the floor at him, saw his wand, and shook her head at him. "Harry..." she began.

"But..."

"No," she said, shaking her head.

Harry wordlessly put his wand away as Lucretia Marquand laughed and turned the other way.

Hermione saw Harry take Luna's hands and help to her feet, as she and Ron arrived at the pair. She was surprised at how quickly the two reached agreement with so few words, and more surprised at how Harry's hands lingered on Luna's longer than necessary. As Harry reached down to gather Luna's books, Hermione got a look at Luna's right hand.

It was bandaged.

The wheels began to turn in Hermione's head as Harry gave Luna her books."Are you sure you're o.k.?" he asked the blonde girl softly.

Luna nodded. "It was just a trip. I'm a little sore, but that's o.k.," she said serenely. "It happens all the time."

Harry frowned. "You shouldn't have to put up with that. Are you sure you don't want me to do something?"

Luna shook her head. "No, don't. I don't want you getting any detentions before next weekend," she said with a smile.

"That would be bad," Harry agreed.

Luna reached up to her left ear. "My wand..."

Raising his own wand once more, Harry incanted, "_Accio_ Luna's wand." Her wand flew into his hand, and he then tucked the younger girl's wand behind her left ear, lightly running his fingertips through her hair as he did so. Luna closed her eyes and sighed contentedly.

Hermione watched the tableau before her with wide eyes, and glanced towards Ron, who was just as surprised at Harry and Luna's actions as Hermione herself was.

Luna smiled widely at Harry. "Thank you for your help," she said softly.

"No problem."

"We'll, I'm off to Defence. See you later." She then looked at Ron and Hermione, as if she was just noticing them for the first time. She gave them a slight smile, and a little wave, and bounced off down the hallway as if nothing had happened.

Harry had a huge grin on his face as he watched her leave. Seeing the surprised looks on his friends faces, he smiled guiltily at them.

His smile turned to shock as Ron grabbed one of Harry's arms and dragged him to the nearest empty classroom, Hermione following behind them.

Ron spoke before Hermione could. "What in the name of Merlin's bloody beard was that, Harry?" Again preempting Hermione, he turned to her, said, "I know, _'language'_", rolled his eyes, and turned back to Harry. "You _cannot_ tell me that was just a conversation this time."

"I was just helping her...," Harry began, when Ron cut him off again.

"You were _not_ 'just helping her', unless she desperately needed your hand in her hair. I see the way you wave to each other in the Great Hall, and you don't do that at any other friends of yours. You two keep making goo-goo eyes at one another, she gave you that bloody charm you never let go of," (Hermione's eyes widened at this piece of information), "you give her pudding," (her eyes got wider yet) "take those insane delusions of hers seriously, and every time you talk to her, you're both so damned focused on one another that bloody Death Eaters could show up and the two of you wouldn't even notice. What the hell is going on?"

Hermione was so surprised at this she neglected to admonish Ron for his profanity.

"Luna does not have 'insane delusions'", Harry began levelly, before being cut off by Ron again.

"Of course, _that's_ what concerns you," the redhead said, rolling his eyes. "Seriously, Harry, we're your friends. Tell us what's going on."

Harry sighed. "I was about to tell you guys before we ran into Luna. I asked her to be my date to Hogsmeade next weekend. She said yes."

Hermione was surprised by this. Ron was apoplectic. "YOU'RE DATING LOONY LOVEGOOD?"

"Ron, _keep it down_!" Hermione said, as she closed the classroom door, although from the sniggers from the few students in the hallway, the damage had already been done.

Harry looked angrily at his redheaded friend. "Ron, if you don't stop calling her that, I swear I'll throttle you. She has a name. Use it!"

"Fine," Rod said evenly. "You're dating _Luna_ Lovegood?"

"I'm going on _a_ date with her. I don't know if we're _dating_ yet."

"WHY?" the taller boy shouted incredulously.

Harry shrugged. "I like her."

"Well, obviously you wouldn't take her on a date if you disliked her..." Hermione interjected.

"Why?" Ron repeated, ignoring Hermione. "She's crazy!"

Harry grabbed the front of Ron's robes at that. "STOP CALLING HER NAMES!"

Hermione quickly interposed herself between her two friends before things escalated. "_Stop it! Stop it both of you!_" she said.

More calmly, Harry said, "Ron, _please_. I am asking you as a friend to stop insulting Luna."

"Fine," Ron said. "I'll _try_. But why would you like _Luna_, of all people?"

"You must admit, Harry, she's _very_ strange," Hermione added, as Harry turned towards her with an _Et tu_? look on his face. "I've never had a conversation with her that didn't revolve around those bizarre creatures she believes in – Heliopaths, Crumple-Horned Snorkacks..."

"Thestrals?" Harry rebutted.

Hermione reddened. "Yes, well, I was wrong about _them_."

"Luna wasn't. She saw them when you all thought I was mad. She was right about those."

"So that means I should believe in Umgubular Slashkilters now?"

Harry shook his head. "I'm not asking you to believe in anything. But you grew up not believing in magic. Now you do. Six months ago you didn't believe in thestrals. Now you know they exist."

Hermione interrupted again. "But that's no reason to go believing in other things without any evidence. Do you believe in Blibbering Humdingers now? Just because Luna says so?"

"No, I don't necessarily believe in them, but I don't think Luna's wrong to do so, and I don't think she should be dismissed out of hand."

"But there's no evidence..."

"Look, you two," Ron interrupted, "this is all fascinating, but it doesn't answer the question of why _Luna_? You could date anyone, Harry. If you wanted a date to Hogsmeade that badly, I'm sure Parvati Patil would give you another chance if you apologized to her for the Yule Ball. Or you could ask Cho Chang, or Katie Bell..."

"Or Ginny," Hermione added.

"You leave my sister out of this," Ron said warningly to Hermione. Turning again to Harry, "_Any_ of them would be better than Luna..."

"I didn't just want a date to Hogsmeade. I wanted to go with _Luna_. And anyway, all those other girls thought I was crazy for saying Voldemort came back. Luna never did. She believed me right from the start."

"So _that's_ why?" Ron asked. "But everyone believes you now – everyone who matters, at least."

Harry responded, "That's not why I like Luna. I'll admit, it made it easy to talk with her when I first started running into her in the hallways at night, that she didn't think I was lying or crazy..."

"Imagine _her_ thinking someone else was crazy..." Ron interrupted.

Before Harry could angrily respond, Hermione spoke up. "'When you _first_ started running into her in the hallways'? How long has this been going on between you two?"

"I've been running into her and chatting for a few months now. We didn't start meeting on purpose until after Christmas..."

"Has she been slipping you Love Potions?" Ron asked.

"WHAT!"

"People do that sometimes," Hermione confirmed. "Has she given you anything to eat or drink lately?"

"Luna has _not_ been slipping me Love Potions! I can't _believe_ you two!"

"No," Hermione said to Ron, "I think Harry's right. He'd be acting a lot dreamier if Love Potions were behind all this."

"Thank you!" Harry exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Maybe a mild charm, though, to make you like her," Hermione continued.

Ron's eyes widened. "That bloody cork charm!"

"Oh, come on!"

Ron turned to Hermione. "He never takes it off, you know," he said as if Harry wasn't there.

"The only charm Luna put on it was a charm she learned from her mother's notes that keeps Nargles away," Harry said. "We, erm, kissed under the mistletoe weeks before she gave it to me."

Now it was Hermione's and Ron's turn to be nonplussed. "YOU SNOGGED LUNA LOVEGOOD?" Ron shouted.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Hermione yelled.

Harry threw up his hands in exasperation. "I did not 'snog' Luna. We kissed under the mistletoe. And I didn't tell you two, Hermione, because I was afraid you, _my two best friends_, would react like this. I know neither of you like her."

"That's not true," Hermione said weakly.

"Oh? Have you ever had a conversation with her that didn't end in you arguing with her?"

"She won't stop with her imaginary creatures and conspiracies!"

"And you won't stop telling her she's wrong all the time."

"But she _is_!"

"I don't dislike her," Ron said. "I mean, she's weird, and all, and I have nothing in common with her, and she creeps me out with the staring and whatnot, but I don't dislike her..."

"Thank you for that ringing endorsement," Harry said sarcastically.

"And if you like her, we'll try to be nice to her, right Hermione?"

"But she's so _wrong_ all the time..."

"_Right_?" Ron repeated pointedly.

"We'll be nice."

"Thank you," Harry said somewhat more sincerely this time.

Hermione still wanted to get to the bottom of this whole thing. "You never did answer Ron's question, Harry. Why do you like Luna?"

"Well, she's easy to talk to. She _gets_ me, you know? So many people just see me the 'Boy-Who-Lived', or the Triwizard Champion, or the son of James and Lily Potter. Very few people seem to want to see plain old Harry Potter. But Luna does. It's really refreshing. She's really funny too..."

"I'll bet," Ron snorted.

Harry glared at his friend. "Witty, I mean. In a subtle way. And she's nice. And pretty."

"You think _Luna_ is pretty?" Ron was surprised at this.

Hermione thought Harry would blow up at Ron for this, and was pleasantly surprised when he did not. "Yes, Ron. She's really pretty, in a wild and natural kind of way. And her eyes..."

"I get it," Ron interrupted. "You find her pretty. Save the details for your Valentine's card to her." He said that with a smile.

"She's really smart, too, and observant," Harry continued. "When you talk with her, you can see why she's in Ravenclaw." He turned to Hermione. "I bet she'd give you a run for your money."

Hermione was sceptical about this, but kept her own counsel. "You know people are going to take you less seriously if you're with Luna, Harry."

"How could they take me less seriously than they do now? And anyway, who cares what other people think. Will _you_ take me less seriously?"

Hermione answered his question with one of her own. "Do you _really_ think that charm protects you from Nargles?"

"Does it really matter?"

Hermione thought about this and shook her head. "Not really. You dating Luna won't affect how I think of you." _Probably_, she thought.

Harry smiled. "Good. How about you, Ron. Will my going to Hogsmeade with Luna make you take me less seriously?"

"No way, Harry."

"So who cares what anyone else thinks?" said Harry triumphantly.

Hermione thought about this. "Harry, did Luna get that bandage from detention with Professor Umbridge?"

Harry's happy expression turned grim. "Yeah, she got it Tuesday after objecting when Umbridge started insulting _The Quibbler _and her father," (Hermione looked unsurprised at that news) "and calling me a liar."

"So _that's_ why you were giving those death glares to her."

Harry frowned further. "Was I that obvious?"

"You were to me. Be _careful_, Harry. Don't let her use Luna to goad you into something you'll regret," she warned.

"I'll try."

"Good. We don't want to lose you, Harry." Hermione decided to switch to a happier topic. "So is that where you've been disappearing to all the time lately? To be with Luna?"

Harry blushed. "Most of the time, yeah."

Ron shook his head smilingly. "Running around behind our backs, snogging Luna, doing who knows what else, and not telling us! Some friend you are."

"We've only really kissed the one time. And the 'what else' is mainly talking. The occasional hug..."

"Oooh, Casanova," Ron teased. "So, how was the kiss?"

"_Ron!_"

"Really nice, actually. She's a good kisser."

"_Harry!_"

"Luna, huh... Who would have thought?" Ron then grinned lecherously. "So, tongue?"

"_RON!_"

* * *

Later that evening, Hermione was wandering back towards the Gryffindor common room from the library, carrying a book. She was still processing Harry's revelation from that afternoon. Luna Lovegood. Of all the girls she thought Harry would ever go for, Luna was not even on the list.

It was true that Hermione had never had a conversation with the Ravenclaw fourth year that didn't degenerate into arguing about _The Quibbler_, or one of the large number of imaginary creatures Luna believed in, but they hadn't really spoken more than a few times. Harry obviously had, so maybe there were hidden depths to the girl beneath that odd exterior. Harry seemed completely taken with Luna, so Hermione reasoned that she should try to get to know her better, for Harry's sake if for nothing else.

If only Luna didn't believe in such strange things!

Dinner was interesting. Hermione had paid attention to Harry and Luna waving and smiling at one another over dinner. (The fact that Ron had been noticing this over the last few weeks, and she had not, made her want to kick herself.) Harry had seemed more relaxed since their confrontation in the disused classroom that afternoon, and had even taken his dessert over to the Ravenclaw table to sit with Luna for a few minutes at the end of the meal. This action, and their animated conversation, had caused no small amount of tittering at the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables, although Neville had a huge grin on his face when Harry went over to Luna. Obviously Harry was not attempting to keep things surreptitious.

Ron said, "Obviously he had to go share his _pudding_ with her," when Hermione commented on the matter. He wouldn't elaborate on that. One more thing for Hermione to ask Harry about.

As Hermione wandered the hallways, she heard loud humming coming from one of the classrooms. Looking in, she saw Luna with her back towards the doorway, hunched over one of the tables, humming a happy tune. Hermione walked quietly into the classroom, when Luna dreamily said, "Hello, Hermione. Did Harry send you to talk to me?"

"How did you know it was me?" she asked, coming around to sit opposite Luna.

Luna cocked her head slightly. "You sounded like you. So I figured you were probably you. And you were."

"Ah," Hermione said after unscrambling that. "No, Harry didn't send me. Were you expecting him to?"

"He said you could explain 'radioactive' to me better than he could." She looked back at the table as she said this. Luna was putting the finishing touches to a charcoal drawing on a large piece of parchment. It was a drawing of clouds and lightning over a lake. A crescent moon was peaking out from behind the clouds. It was actually quite a nice piece of art, one that Luna had obviously put a lot of effort into.

"How did _that_ come up?" Hermione asked.

"We were talking about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. And nuclear weapons." Luna looked up from her drawing and looked straight at Hermione. "_You_ grew up as a Muggle. Did you know about those?"

"Nuclear weapons?" Hermione clarified. Luna nodded. "Yeah. Pretty much everyone does. It's not something I thought about much, though."

"They sound horrible. Could You-Know-Who actually get some?"

Hermione thought about this. "Well, it's only major governments who have them. Although there are always worries about terrorists getting one. That hasn't happened yet, though, although I suppose Voldemort would count as a terrorist. They don't seem his style, though."

"That's what Harry said. Muggles are _awfully_ inventive about killing each other," Luna said conversationally. "I'm surprised there are any left."

"They haven't used any in war for fifty years. They're mainly for deterrence. The theory being that they won't be used so long as the other side knows that if they use them, you'll use them. So everyone keeps building them, hoping they'll never use them."

Hermione watched as Luna worked that out. The younger girl's eyes widened, as she shook her head and said, "And they call _me_ mad..."

Hermione laughed. Luna scowled at her, before Hermione said, "I'm not laughing at _you_, Luna. That's actually what they call the strategy – MAD. Mutually Assured Destruction."

"How odd," Luna said, dreamily, going back to her drawing.

The blonde girl took out her wand and swished it over the drawing, causing the lightning and clouds to move. She then took out her charcoal and worked on the drawing once more.

"That's really good," Hermione said, pointing to the artwork.

"Thank you. It's a project for Professor Flitwick. I was supposed to be done today, but I got detention," she said sadly, glancing at her bandaged hand.

"Lines with Professor Umbridge?"

Luna nodded. "So Professor Flitwick gave me one more day."

"I didn't know you were an artist, Luna."

She nodded again. "I like to draw. And to paint. I don't do much of it around here. Anything I made would just disappear. Nargles, you see," she added, as if that explained everything.

Hermione didn't comment on that. Luna went on. "Mum wanted me to go to Beauxbatons. They have a good art programme there. She even taught me French. When she died, though, Dad didn't want me to be so far away, so I went here instead. It's probably for the best, though. The Beauxbatons girls would probably like me even less than the Hogwarts ones do," she said in a far happier tone than Hermione expected.

Hermione frowned at that. Luna was just too accepting sometimes.

She switched topics. "Harry told me he asked you to Hogsmeade."

"He did," Luna said, not looking up from her drawing. "I said yes."

"You must be looking forward to that."

"I really am," Luna said as a smile grew on her face. "He's very sweet. I'm sure we'll have a lovely time."

"And he's a celebrity..."

Luna looked up at Hermione angrily. "Is _that_ why you think I'm happy? Because a _celebrity_ asked me to Hogsmeade?"

Hermione was taken aback by this. "No, not entirely, but..."

Luna heatedly said, "I'm happy because I was asked to Hogsmeade by Harry Potter, the handsome, sweet boy who listens to me without calling me names, who actually wants to talk to me. The boy who isn't embarrassed to speak to me in front of his friends. The boy who took the time to give me ten kinds of pudding as a Christmas present, because I mentioned once, weeks before, that I liked pudding." (Hermione's eyes got wide at that.) "The boy who doesn't think I'm mad when I talk about Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, but asks serious questions instead, and at least considers that they might exist. The boy who has _never_ called me 'Loony', but calls me 'pretty' instead.

"That's the boy I'm going to Hogsmeade with. Not some celebrity, and not the 'Boy-Who-Lived'. I don't care about all that. I just care about Harry."

Tears began welling up in Luna's large silvery eyes as she said all this. She sniffled, looked back at her drawing, and said, "Now please leave me alone. I have to finish this for tomorrow or I will lose marks."

"Luna," Hermione began, but was cut off by the blonde.

"I have to do this. Please go."

Hermione left the classroom, and began walking towards her common room. _"Harry is going to kill me for making her cry,"_ she thought. Rather than continuing on, she turned around and went back in to see Luna.

"Luna, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to imply that you were just interested in Harry because he's famous. Please forgive me."

"You don't like me," Luna said evenly.

"No, that's not it, I just don't _get_ you. I don't get how you can just accept things without any evidence."

Luna sighed. "I don't accept things on no evidence, but I don't rule things out just because there's not absolute proof, either."

"I know. And I'll try to be more accepting of your beliefs. It's just _hard_, you know? It's not the way I think."

"I understand," Luna said. "You're very protective of Harry."

Hermione thought about this. "He's always been there for me when I needed him. I try to watch out for him in return."

"Is that why you said all that?" Luna asked.

Hermione nodded. "He hates the whole 'Boy-Who-Lived' thing, and I wanted to make sure that wasn't why you were interested in him."

"I know he hates it. He complains about it a lot." She looked at Hermione. "Did you grill Parvati Patil like this when he asked her to the Yule Ball?"

Hermione looked guiltily at Luna. "No, I didn't."

"So why grill me? Are you jealous that he's taking me to Hogsmeade?"

"_What?_"

Luna pointed her finger at Hermione. "Do _you_ like Harry?"

Hermione sighed. People never seemed to tire of asking her this. "No, not in that way. Ours is more like a brother-sister relationship."

"Good. Harry speaks very highly of you, you know. I'd like to be friends with you, Hermione," she said, looking intensely at the brunette. "I know Harry trusts you, and when you asked if I was just interested in the 'Boy-Who-Lived', I was worried you'd make _him_ think that."

"I don't think he thinks that at all. And I'd like to be friends with you, too."

Luna brightened up at that. "Good. So do you want an anti-Nargle necklace, or bracelet?"

Hermione looked stunned. "Ah, well, erm..."

Luna broke out laughing. "I'm just kidding. I know you don't believe in Nargles, and wouldn't wear a charm against them. But don't blame me when all your things go missing." She said that last part very seriously.

Hermione didn't quite know how to respond. So she didn't.

After a short silence, Luna pointed at the book Hermione was holding. "_Pod Igoto – Ivan Vazov_. I didn't know you read Russian."

Hermione was surprised. "You can read Cyrillic?"

Luna shrugged. "I know the alphabet, and can sound it out. I can't _read_ it – I have no idea what that means."

"It's a novel. 'Under the Yoke', by Ivan Vazov. And it's Bulgarian, not Russian."

Luna tilted her head. "Did Viktor Krum give that to you?"

Hermione blushed at this. "Yes, it was a Christmas present. Apparently it's a classic of Bulgarian literature. I can't read Bulgarian yet, but this may help. Look," she said, opening the book to show two pages of Bulgarian text. Hermione then waved her wand over one page, and incanted "_redde_". The text of the page turned to English.

Luna's large eyes widened further in appreciation. "That's _wonderful_! What a lovely gift. Are you two together?"

Hermione shook her head. "I think he wanted to be, but I need to concentrate on my schooling. All the newspapers following me if I dated him would be too distracting. We write, though."

"That's too bad. He was very handsome. Many of my classmates hated you when he took you to the Yule Ball," Luna said in what Hermione found to be an inappropriately happy manner. "They were so jealous of you."

"He was lots of fun at the Ball. A good dancer. But why can you read the Cyrillic alphabet?"

"I like Ancient Runes. If you want to know lots of Runes, it helps to be able to read many alphabets. My mother started teaching me, and I kept it up after her accident," she said conversationally. "I want to be able to fully understand all the notes she left. She was quite the runesmith. I can read the Latin alphabet, obviously, and Cyrillic, and the Greek, Italic, Sanskrit, Armenian and Glagolitic ones. I'm working on Avestan next."

Hermione was quite impressed by this. "Wait, you can read Glagolitic?"

Luna nodded. Hermione continued. "I was talking to Harry about Glagolitic runes a few days ago."

"He didn't mention it to me, but I'm not surprised." Luna leaned into Hermione and whispered as if imparting a great secret. "He's not very studious, you know. Terribly bright, though." Hermione smiled at that. Luna went on. "My mother published a very good article on Glagolitic runes just before she died. Have you read it?"

"No, but I'd like to."

Luna smiled. "I'll owl Daddy and get him to send me that issue of _The Quibbler_."

Hermione smiled back. "Thanks!"

"This has been a lovely chat, Hermione, but I really do need to finish this. I wasn't just being cross before. I want to finish this before I run out of time. And before the Wrackspurts find me."

Hermione didn't comment on that. "O.K., Luna. I'll leave you be. See you around?"

Luna nodded, and went back to her drawing.

As Hermione left, she was both glad she had managed to leave things with Luna, and somewhat bewildered. Who would have thought she would _ever_ look forward to reading an article in _The Quibbler_?

* * *

The next day, Hermione got to the Great Hall for lunch late, as she took the opportunity Saturday provided to sleep in a little, which became sleeping the whole morning away. She saw Harry, Ron, Luna and Neville standing in a cluster at the Gryffindor table talking amongst themselves. When Harry saw Hermione, he waved her over, shouting excitedly, "Hermione! You've got to see this!"

As Hermione arrived at the table, she saw Harry holding the charcoal drawing Luna had been working on the night before. "Look what Luna gave me! She made it herself," he said, his appreciation evident.

The charcoal drawing had come to life, with the clouds moving left to right, and lightning striking the lake intermittently, with the clouds occasionally partially obscuring the full moon.

"That looks really good, Luna," she said. "Did Professor Flitwick give you a good mark for it?"

Luna beamed with pride. "I got an 'O'. He wanted to hang it in the classroom, but I thought Harry might like it." She blushed a little at that. Ron rolled his eyes, but smiled slightly as he did so.

"You knew about this?" Harry asked Hermione.

"I ran into Luna last night as she was working on it. We had a nice chat."

Luna nodded in agreement.

"Cool. And Hermione, watch this," he said as he waved his wand and incanted "_Loquere_". The drawing now made intermittent thunder sounds, each sound coming three seconds after a lightning flash. "Isn't that cool?"

Hermione thought Harry's enthusiasm for the drawing was amusing, in a cute way. "Yeah, you could use that as a white noise machine." Seeing the quizzical looks on the faces of Luna, Neville and Ron, she explained, "Something that makes background noise so you can sleep easier."

Luna's eyes opened wide. "I hadn't even thought of that! Thank you Hermione! Harry, you could hang this up by your bed, turn it up at night, and maybe you'll sleep easier."

Ron frowned. "Gee, thanks for the suggestion Hermione."

Luna turned to the redhead. "Don't worry, Ron, I made it so you can turn down the volume. Just tap the moon with your wand, Harry, and say '_fortissimo_', '_forte_', '_mezzo_', '_piano_', or '_pianissimo_' to change the volume. You know, like in music." As Luna tapped the moon and said the words, the moon changed through phases from full to new as the volume changed. "And then say '_quiesce_' to turn it off."

Everyone was quite impressed at this, Hermione especially. _Who knew Luna had it in her? s_he thought._ Well, Harry probably. But still..._

Luna added, "The moon is my signature. For my name," she added helpfully, although Hermione was sure no one needed that help.

Ron piped up, "Good think you didn't 'sign' your last name!" and began laughing. Neville unsuccessfully tried to shuffle a chortle.

Hermione scolded, "_Ron!_", and Harry frowned until Luna began to laugh uproariously at Ron's comment.

When she caught her breath, she said, "That's _funny_ Ron! Although Professor Flitwick likely would have lowered my mark if I had done that."

Ron shot back, "If you drew _that_ as well as you drew the rest of it, he may have given you extra credit!"

"_RON!_" Hermione shouted. Luna blushed beet red. Neville looked scandalized. Harry just looked happy his friends were getting along with Luna.

Luna recovered enough to add, "Especially if I used a movement charm on it."

Harry and Neville laughed at that, but Ron collapsed onto the table in spasms of laughter. "_Can't... breathe... oh my God!_" He pounded his right fist on the table in amusement.

The loud laughter coming from the fivesome, or from four of the fivesome, cause them to get lots of looks. The result of this was that when Harry put down the drawing and drew Luna into a tight hug, whispering, "It's wonderful. Thank you!" into her ear, that not only did the other three stop what they were doing and watch, but a fair portion of the rest of the Gryffindor table did as well, and some of the students at the other tables.

_S__o much for discretion_, Hermione thought wryly, as she gazed at the shocked faces of her fellow students. _Let the rumour mill commence!_


	6. Boots

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers apply. The proper people have the proper rights over the proper things, and I do not, which is also proper.

Protection From Nargles

Part 6 - Boots

_January, 1996._

The first clue Luna saw was that when she emerged from the shower she found her slippers missing. Or more precisely, did _not_ find them. As they were missing. All of her other clothes were there where she left them, as were her butterbeer cork necklace and her dirigible plum earrings (her favourite pair), but not the slippers.

An ordinary person might have simply thought they misremembered – that they had forgot that the slippers were left in her dorm room, rather than in the shower room. Luna Lovegood was many things, but _ordinary_ was not one of them. She seldom misremembered things, except when there were Wrackspurts about. And Luna did not feel the presence of Wrackspurts there in the Ravenclaw girls shower room.

She had no proof of this, of course – you couldn't see Wrackspurts unaided, although her Daddy had told her _The Quibbler_ was working on a special insert that would make the little creatures visible – but she knew the clues of a Wrackspurt infestation. The forgetfulness, the slight numbness, as if one had downed half a dozen butterbeers, the hairs on the arm feeling tingly – she felt none of those.

No, her slippers were _gone_.

Two possibilities remained. They had left on their own, or they were taken. Luna was relatively certain the slippers hadn't left on their own. Her Daddy had bought them for her over the summer, and while she had not expressly requested that he get her non-self-ambulatory slippers, he was usually pretty good about these things.

Now, in the more likely event they were taken, the question emerged as to who the culprit was. The obvious choice was Nargles. They had taken her things before, and she had a period in the fall where they had taken all of her footwear. She smiled thinking of that period, for while her feet were quite cold for the few weeks she had to walk around in bare feet, that was when she had her first real conversation with Harry Potter, bonding at the thestral nest. That was when she first thought she had made a new friend in the black-haired young man.

But this was not the time to think of Harry. There was a mystery afoot.

If her slippers had disappeared at home, she would have had no hesitation blaming the mischievous little sprites. They would hide things all the time – shoes and socks being a favourite target – but most things would turn up in the end. The thing to remember about Nargles was that their mischief was not malice. Their aim was a laugh, or a bit of fun. While the Nargles' sense of humour may be different from most humans, they generally did not to hurt.

There was also the fact that she had left her butterbeer cork necklace next to her slippers. Nargles hated cork, and butterbeer corks in particular. Adding to that the anti-Nargle charm that Luna placed on the necklace, and she considered it highly unlikely that the Nargles would have come anywhere near her slippers.

Nargles left very little in the way of evidence when they struck. All one really had to go one when determining whether they were behind something was intuition, and to Luna, this simply did not _feel_ like it was the work of Nargles.

Luna considered herself something of an expert on the subject.

So that left one possibility. This was confirmed when she had dried off, got dressed, wandered downstairs in her socks to her dorm room, opened her trunk, and saw that all of her footwear, every piece of winter clothing she owned, and the Gryffindor scarf Harry had given her three days previously were all gone.

Luna frowned. No, it definitely was _not_ Nargles.

* * *

As Luna wandered towards the Great Hall for Sunday dinner, her mind was still occupied by her missing clothing and footwear. Unless she was incorrect in discounting the Nargle theory – perhaps they were expecting a particularly cold winter? - or unless her classmates had just as much need for winter clothing, it was obvious to her that the disappearance of her things was directly related to the revelation that Harry was taking her to Hogsmeade next weekend.

A smile grew on her normally dreamy face as she thought of that.

Her fourth year at Hogwarts had been radically different than the previous three. Until this year she had only one real friend at school, Ginevra Weasley. Ginny had been a childhood playmate – they were thrown together mainly due to them being the only young girls among the small magical population of Ottery St. Catchpole. After Luna witnessed the death of her mother in a spellcrafting experiment gone wrong, the nine-year-old girl spent most of her time with her grieving father, whose life had been shattered by the death of his beloved wife. Once the girls began their schooling at Hogwarts, two years of minimal contact and having been sorted into different houses had taken their toll on their formerly close friendship. Ginny's possession by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named hadn't helped. While they had reconnected somewhat in their second and third years, Ginny and Luna were no longer particularly close. Luna had even overheard Ginny use her hated nickname 'Loony' from time to time, although the red-haired girl had the good manners to never do that when she thought Luna was within earshot, and Ginny never said it teasingly or maliciously.

Still, Ginny was always kind to Luna, and never avoided her. That alone had made her Luna's only real friend until this year, when she introduced her to Harry Potter.

Luna's first meeting with Harry on the Hogwarts Express had been interesting. The boy was clearly suffering a severe Wrackspurt infestation at the time. She also saw that he had had no idea how to react to her, but he had at least been respectful, and eagerly read the copy of _The Quibbler_ that Luna had given him (until she took it back at Hermione's disdainful words). What really struck Luna, however, was that he could see the thestrals. Looking back, the fact that they both saw the winged skeletal horses had given them something to bond over, and had shown Harry that perhaps she was not as 'loony' as almost everyone else believed.

Harry quickly became a true friend as they met repeatedly over the course of the fall term. The respect and understanding he showed to her was a novel experience for the young Ravenclaw – so different from the usual mockery and scorn Luna received from most people. It was refreshing to have someone take her seriously, even if she hadn't quite convinced him that Nargles and Wrackspurts were real.

_Yet_, she thought with another smile.

Through Harry she had joined Dumbledore's Army, which had proved to be one of the best educational experiences she had had at Hogwarts. Practising with her fellow D.A. members (_Dumbledore's Soldiers?_ she thought) made it far easier to learn spells than any amount of classroom work, even though she excelled in the classroom. She also thought that her performances in the Room of Requirement were earning her some respect as well. And Harry had turned out to be an excellent teacher. She hoped he would consider teaching as a profession after he graduated – he was better than any Defence teacher she had had, with the possible exception of Professor Lupin. Teaching would also keep Harry from becoming a minion of the Rotfangs, the likely fate of all those who joined the Auror Office.

And if it weren't for the D.A., she never would had that moment with Harry under the mistletoe.

Almost unconsciously, she found herself humming her mother's tune again.

She looked at her now bandage-free right hand. In a very real way, she had Professor Umbridge to thank for her current happiness. She almost had the urge to tell the woman that, if she didn't think she would get another detention for it. Watching Umbridge's reaction might almost be worth it, though.

Almost.

Prior to finding herself under the mistletoe, Luna had never had any good experiences with romance. In her second year, her roommates Melanie Maxwell and Deirdre Cholmondeley tried to convince her that David Ridgway, a Ravenclaw boy two years ahead of her, thought she was pretty, and trusting as Luna was, she took them at their word. She tried sitting next to David at lunch a few times, until he shouted at her "Stop hanging around me, loser!" while Melanie and Deirdre pointed and Luna and laughed.

That had been unpleasant.

A worse experience happened the following year. Third-years like Luna did not get to attend the Yule Ball unless they had a date with someone in the fourth or higher year, and so most of them went away for the Christmas holidays, Luna included. When she returned from holidays, Arcas McNeil, a handsome Hufflepuff boy she had a few classes with, and who had been reasonably pleasant to her in the past, came up to her and told her he brought a gift for her from his Christmas trip to visit relatives in Nova Scotia. Luna's heart and hopes had risen at this – no one had ever given her a gift at Hogwarts. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an eleven-sided golden coin. On the one side it had an effigy of the Queen, like the Muggle coins in Britain that she had sometimes seen. On the back was a bird, and the label "CANADA – DOLLAR". Then she looked closer at the bird, and her heart fell.

"Ha ha! A loonie for Loony!" Arcas laughed cruelly. Luna successfully fought back tears, but it was a near run thing.

Luna had thought she had had enough of boys after that. Until she met Harry.

As their friendship grew over the fall term, she certainly noticed that the young man was handsome and unfailingly kind to her, but she was certain he could never think of crazy old Loony Lovegood as anything more than a friend, so she purposely tried to put any romantic musings that might arise out of her head. She was generally quite successful at that, and was certainly happy enough with the time she spent with Harry not to want to risk changing things.

And then they met under the mistletoe.

Luna smiled remembering that night five weeks previous. She had never kissed a boy before, and she honestly hadn't really known if she ever would, given how people treated her. She was certain when she pointed out the festive plant above their heads that Harry would find some reason to avoid it, although she expected him to find a polite way to do so. When he stayed under the mistletoe speaking to her, even after she warned him about the Nargles, moving in towards him was perhaps the bravest thing she had done in years. If he had reacted poorly, it might have done irreparable harm to a friendship that Luna had truly begun to cherish.

But he did not. Their kiss was perfect, as far as Luna was concerned. She smiled again.

One of the unfortunate things about having few friends was that Luna had no one to talk to about the situation with Harry to get another girl's perspective. Talking about Harry with Ginny might be difficult, as the red-haired girl had had a crush on the 'Boy-Who-Lived' since long before she had ever met him. Luna thought that Ginny might have grown out of the crush by now, though – she had accepted Neville Longbottom's invitation to the Yule Ball last year long before Harry had asked anyone, and Ginny was now seeing Michael Corner. As far as Luna could tell, Ginny and Michael were getting along very well. Luna hoped this meant Ginny was over Harry, but talking about it with her would still awkward, even for someone with Luna's high tolerance for awkwardness.

Perhaps she and Hermione Granger would become friends. Luna hoped that with their conversation two days previous, they might start down that road. The older brunette was terribly close-minded, far more than someone who had been introduced to a whole new world a few years previously should be, as far as Luna was concerned, but she was bright and caring. And Harry thought the world of her, which was endorsement enough for Luna.

It was times like this that made her miss her mother the most. Over Christmas she had gone to her mother's grave site at Lovegood Tower, as she often did when she was home, and told her mother all about the boy she discovered she had feelings for. Talking to her mother always made Luna feel better, but she longed for some motherly advice.

Her only surviving relative was her father, who she loved dearly, but did not want to talk to about romance. When her father saw her making the butterbeer cork charm for Harry, she tried to simply tell him it was for a friend of hers. Skilled interviewer that Xenophilius Lovegood was, however, he soon pried out of Luna that the friend was a boy, and Harry Potter to boot. Luna didn't tell her father about the kiss, but did tell him that she was fond of Harry, and that he was open-minded and very kind. Her father simply smiled, said he was sure that Harry would like the charm and appreciate being protected from the Nargles, and that he hoped to meet her new friend one day.

The last few weeks had been wonderful for Luna, other than her detention with Professor Umbridge. Harry made her feel appreciated and valued, and honestly paid attention when she spoke about things that other people laughed at her for. Their pudding night in the Room of Requirement had been the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her, and now Harry had asked her to Hogsmeade. An actual date, with the boy she liked!

Things were truly looking up for Luna.

But nothing ever ran smoothly for her. She had feared that others would be upset that crazy Loony Lovegood had the temerity to befriend the famous Boy-Who-Lived, and once it became known that Harry had asked her out, she knew there would be repercussions. Harry having dessert with her at the Ravenclaw table on Friday had resulted in no small amount of murmuring from her housemates, and the warm hug he gave her at lunch yesterday only served to increase that. By suppertime the day before Luna could see scattered groups of Ravenclaws muttering amongst themselves and looking repeatedly in her direction, where as usual she was sitting on her own, separated from the other Ravenclaws.

Then, just as Luna had been finishing the cupcake she was having for dessert, Ginny had come marching over to where Luna was sitting, looked her straight in the eye, and forcefully said, "Luna Amalthea Lovegood! I thought we were friends!" She had a stern look on her face as she said this.

The students nearest to Luna at the Ravenclaw table turned to watch the after-dinner theatre which was unfolding before them, some laughing at her middle name. Among those watching were her roommates Melanie, Deirdre, and Morgana Dempster.

Luna looked sheepish at Ginny, but spoke in her dreamy voice. "Hello, Ginny. Of course we're friends. Why would you think otherwise?"

"I had to find out from _Ron_ that Harry asked you to Hogsmeade! Why didn't you tell me? That's great news, isn't it? Aren't you excited?" Ginny had broken into a large girlish grin by the last question.

Melanie and Deirdre looked shocked at this revelation, and eagerly started spreading this news further down the Ravenclaw table. Morgana gave Luna a slight smile and turned back to her food.

Luna had got up from the table and motioned Ginny to follow her, as she hadn't wanted to have this conversation in front of all of Ravenclaw. As Ginny walked along side her, she said, "I didn't want to upset you. I know you had a crush on Harry..."

Ginny interrupted her. "I _did_ have a crush on Harry, but I've moved on. He certainly never asked _me_ out," she said, slightly enviously. "Besides, I'm with Michael now." Ginny looked at Luna appraisingly. "You didn't answer me earlier, by the way. You _are_ excited, right?"

Luna had nodded silently at that, a large smile slowly appearing on her face. "I've never been on a date before, you know," she said quietly.

Ginny put her hand on Luna's shoulder. "It'll be wonderful. My first date was magical," she said wistfully.

Luna raised her eyebrow at the red-haired girl. "Yule Ball?" Ginny nodded. "I thought you said Neville wasn't a good dancer? Not that I'd have minded..."

Ginny laughed. "Neville had two left feet, but he made me feel like the centre of the universe that night. It was wonderful."

"Does Michael make you feel the same way?"

Ginny's face had fallen almost imperceptibly. "He tries. Sometimes..." Then she had brightened up. "But we were talking about you and Harry. I didn't even know you really knew him."

Luna then told Ginny about how she and Harry had gotten close over the last few months, about their kiss under the mistletoe, and about their meetings since then. Ginny was practically squealing with glee at the end of it.

"He keeps the Nargle charm you gave him on him? Oh, that's so _romantic_, Luna! You have _nothing_ to worry about – he's going to show you a wonderful time!" Ginny reassured her.

Talking with Ginny had made Luna feel far less nervous about the upcoming weekend, and had put her in an excellent mood which persisted right up until a few minutes ago when she emerged from the shower.

Luna ceased her reminiscing and entered the Great Hall. She wandered over to her usual spot at the end of the Ravenclaw table. Before she sat down, she went to where her roommates were sitting, eating their supper. As Luna approached Melanie Maxwell looked over at her and snorted, "Nice socks" at her. Deirdre Cholmondeley stifled a laugh at that.

"Thank you," Luna said nonchalantly. "I like them too. They're very warm." Morgana let loose a chuckle at that, but stopped and looked down very intently at her food upon seeing Melanie's glare at her. "Unfortunately, all of my footwear and winter clothing seems to have mysteriously disappeared. If you come across any of it, please let me know," Luna said while smiling her usual serene smile.

"Oh, we will, Loony, don't worry," said Deirdre insincerely, as Luna went to grab her supper and sit on her own. Morgana steadfastly avoided looking at Luna.

Luna looked over at the Gryffindor table and waved at Harry and his friends. Harry grinned back and waved enthusiastically, Ron gave a brief slight wave, and Hermione turned around and smiled a little smile at her. Luna then dug into her roast beef and Yorkshire pudding with relish.

As she was finishing up her Yorkshire pudding, one of the upper-year boys sitting near her said tauntingly, "Here comes Loony's loverboy," and then proceeded to laugh at his own wit, as Harry came over to see her. He sat down and grinned as he watched Luna demolish the remainder of her Yorkshire pudding.

"Is there _any_ kind of pudding you don't like, Luna?" he said playfully.

"None that I've had yet," she said with a full mouth, politely holding her hand in front of it. After she swallowed, she looked at Harry and said evenly, "Although if Minister Fudge was serving goblin pudding, I'd probably decline it."

Harry laughed, and they chatted amiably for a few minutes before Melanie and Deirdre wandered past the duo on their way out of the Great Hall, and Deirdre said, "Hi Harry, what do you think of Loony's socks?", giggled, and walked away before Harry could respond.

Harry looked under the table, saw Luna's socked feet, and frowned. Luna looked down at the table, and not meeting Harry's eyes, said sadly, "All my footwear and winter clothing has disappeared. The scarf you gave me, too."

"Nargles?"

She shook her head, still not meeting his gaze. "Not this time." Very quietly, she said, "If I don't get them back, I'll have to cancel our date, Harry. I don't want you to miss out on a Hogsmeade weekend."

"Luna, look at me," he said. When she raised her head to look at him, he took her hands in his, and said, "If you don't get them back, we'll have our date here at the castle. I don't care if we miss Hogsmeade so long as I get to spend the day with you."

Luna beamed at him for this.

"Do you know who did it?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "Not for certain."

Harry said with anger in his voice, "We should still do something about it. I should talk with Professor Flitwick..."

She squeezed his hands which were still holding hers, and interrupted him. "Thank you, Harry, but please don't. It would only make things worse. I'm sure my things will be returned to me... eventually. They usually are."

Harry frowned. "If you're sure..."

"I am."

Harry looked pensive. Luna tilted her head, and poked him him the chest. "You're planning something, Harry Potter," she said accusingly.

"Who, me?" he tried to say innocently. Then he smiled at her, and said, "I never did answer... um... who was that?"

"Deirdre Cholmondeley. One of my roommates," Luna said in a pointedly neutral tone.

"I never answered Deirdre's question." Luna raised an eyebrow at this. "About your socks, I mean. They're cute. Are those fuzzy purple creatures Crumple-Horned Snorkacks?"

She smiled widely at him. "Yes, they are! I knitted them myself. I got the pattern from Mummy, but I made some changes. I've been trying to convince Daddy to put a knitting column in _The Quibbler_, so people can knit Snorkack socks and Aquavirius Maggot sweaters and such. I haven't won him over, yet."

Harry grinned. "I'm sure you'll wear him down. What's an Aquavirius Maggot?"

"It looks like a pale brain," Luna explained. "They live in swamps and feed on plimpies. They're very rare – there hasn't been a confirmed sighting in Britain in over a century, you know. There was one sighting on the Isle of Man two years ago, but it turned out to be simply a very large mushroom. Still, Daddy expects one to turn up eventually."

"Are you sure you'd want to put one on a sweater? It doesn't sound very cute."

Luna considered this. "Maybe you're right. It would look better on a knit cap."

Harry didn't respond to that suggestion, and instead said, "Well, I have to go and see Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick." Luna opened her mouth to speak, but Harry went on. "It's for a project – don't worry, I won't tell Professor Flitwick about your boots and coats if you don't want me to." He lowered his voice and looked around to make sure no one was paying attention. "We'll likely have a D.A. meeting tomorrow at 5 o'clock. If I don't see you here tomorrow, I'll see you there, right?" Luna nodded. "Great! Have a good night, Luna. I hope you find your stuff," he said as he got up.

"Good night, Harry," she said as he left.

Talking with Harry made Luna feel better. Her spirits were up as she returned to the Ravenclaw common room and reviewed her Transfiguration text. She was in such a good mood, she completely ignored the exasperated looks and whispers directed her way as she studied.

When she awoke the next morning, all of her socks had disappeared as well.

* * *

Luna knew from experience that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was not particularly accommodating to the barefoot. The draughty castle was cold at the best of times, and as far as Luna's bare feet were concerned, January was not the best of times. Still, the theft of her footwear was not going to stop Luna from going about her day, regardless of the cold and the comments of her schoolmates.

Luna was late for breakfast, and didn't see Harry, but as she was leaving the Great Hall, Hermione and Ginny caught up with her and asked why she was barefoot. Luna told them what happened, and Ginny asked, "Do you think this is because Harry asked you out to Hogsmeade?" Luna nodded sadly at that and the brunette and redhead scowled.

"You should put an anti-theft charm on your stuff, Luna," Hermione said helpfully.

"I tried that last year," Luna told her. "Someone filled my trunk with magic-resistant cement instead. I had to dig my things out with a hammer and chisel."

Hermione looked shocked at this – obviously she had no idea of what Luna had to put up with from her housemates. Ginny said, "I hope whoever did that didn't get the cement from Fred and George."

"Oh, I doubt it," Luna said cheerfully. "The twins' pranks can be somewhat cruel, but they've never targeted me. They seem to go after Slytherins, mostly. And Ronald, of course."

"Well, you have to do something to get your stuff back. You don't want to miss your date with Harry," Ginny said.

"I'm sure they'll turn up – when the Nargles take my things, they always turn up eventually. I'm sure it will be the same this time," she said. "Besides, Harry said that if they don't, we'll do something here."

Hermione looked surprised at that. "_Harry_ said that? Hmmm... Still, you should do something. You don't want to miss Hogsmeade."

"I'm sure it will work out. Things usually do."

Hermione and Ginny looked unconvinced about this as they walked away.

The day was a long one for Luna. In Potions, Professor Snape noticed her bare feet, muttered that Hogwarts was not a commune (to the general bewilderment of most of the class, Luna included), and docked Ravenclaw five points for Luna's lack of proper footwear.

Fortunately, there was a D.A. meeting that day, which gave Luna something to look forward to. Being in the D.A. made her feel like her skills were noticed by people, and almost like she was somewhat respected. She hoped there would be some duelling practice – she enjoyed it most of the time, depending on who her sparring partner was.

She arrived at the Room of Requirement early. Harry, who was the only other one there when she arrived, smiled widely at her as she entered the Room. He then looked down, saw her feet,and frowned. "Your socks now, too?"

She slowly nodded.

"We've got to do something about this, Luna. You shouldn't have to put up with these thefts."

"Please don't do anything rash, Harry. I don't even know who did this."

"I won't, Luna. It'll be low-key, trust me. Hearts-and-minds," he said cryptically.

The other D.A. members slowly trickled into room. Once everyone had arrived, Harry got in front of them all and began to speak. "Today we're going to work on our Confundus Charms, Stunning Spells, and Shield Charms by pairing off and duelling. In the next few weeks, though, I want to start in on Patronus Charms. Now, a Patronus is a very powerful, very useful spell. I've had to use it a few times to fend of Dementors," (there were a few gasps at this), "and it can save your life, so it's important to get it right."

He continued, "The thing to remember about a Patronus is that it's powered by your memories. You'll need to think of a happy, powerful memory. And that can be very hard if you're not happy. One thing I want everyone to remember is that everyone in the D.A., everyone in this room, is on the same side. We are all a team, and we may all very well be fighting side-by-side at some point if we're all very unlucky. You don't want the person next to you in battle, the person you're relying on, to let you down, or to not be at their most powerful.

"So I want all of you, all of _us_, to do everything we can to make things pleasant and happy for one another. And at the very least, don't do anything to make any of us unhappy or make our lives worse. An unhappy member of the D.A. is a less powerful member, and someone who won't be protecting _you _as well as they can. So please keep this in mind."

Harry looked at Luna with a questioning look in his eyes as he finished this. She smiled slightly and nodded just enough for him to notice. He broke into a grin.

"O.K., so let's do the Confundus now. Marietta, I'll cast a _Protego_, and you try to _Confundo_ me. In one, two..."

* * *

After the meeting, Luna walked over to where Harry stood. "That was a very nice speech about Patronuses, Harry," she said.

"Hopefully it will have some effect."

"Maybe. I don't know if the people who took my things are in the D.A., though."

"No, but other Ravenclaws are. If I got through to Cho and Marietta, or even Michael, they may have some pull with your other housemates. It was worth a try," he said, somewhat less confidently.

Luna smiles and squeezed his hand. "Yes, it was." Her face now had a more serious expression. "Could you get Dobby to talk to me? I have an idea, but I need to ask him a favour."

"Luna, Dobby's not my servant, he's a friend. I'm sure he'd be willing to help out. Just call his name." She looked sceptical. "You'll see. DOBBY!" he called.

Almost immediately, the house elf popped into the Room of Requirement. "Yes, Harry Potter, sir. How can Dobby help?"

"Dobby, you remember my friend Luna, right?"

"Yes, of course! Did Harry Potter's Miss Luna enjoy the pudding?" he said happily.

She smiled at the elf. "Yes, Dobby, it was wonderful. Thank you for that."

"It was no trouble at all, Miss Luna, for a friend of Harry Potter's."

Harry spoke up. "Dobby, Luna had something she needs to ask you. Would you be able to help her just as if you were helping me? I'd be very grateful."

"Dobby would be most happy to help any friend of Harry Potter sir's," he said.

"Good. I have to go work on something, now. I'll see you both later?"

Luna smiled and said yes. Dobby nodded his head vigorously. Harry then left the room.

Luna then asked Dobby to return her missing things to her trunk if he ran across them, and gave the elf a brief description of everything. After a cheerful, "yes, anything for Harry Potter's Miss Luna", he popped out of the Room, and Luna left as well, thinking how she enjoyed what the elf called her.

* * *

Things did not improve for Luna the next day. On Tuesdays she had Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Lucretia Marquand shouted out at the beginning of class, "Loony's still barefoot!" Professor Umbridge didn't give her a chance to explain, and didn't punish Lucretia for disrupting class, but instead deducted five points from Ravenclaw, "for not wearing Ministry-approved footwear", and sentenced Luna to an hour of detention that evening. _Just when my hand has finally healed_, she thought sadly.

Professor Umbridge did not sentence her to write lines, however. When Luna went to her office for detention, still without any shoes and socks, the toad-like teacher told her to go outside the castle and melt icicles from the castle walls for an hour using her wand. "And don't cast any warming charms on yourself, dear," she said insincerely. "Maybe this will teach you to wear shoes to class."

And so Luna had to walk outside in the cold of January, barefoot and without a jacket, firing warming spells at the icicles, but none at herself. She had to concede that Professor Umbridge's sadism was at least imaginative and varied. Her upper body was cold enough in the night wind, but he feet were beginning to turn blue after a few minutes. As she melted the icicles away, she got the idea to cast warming spell at the ground where she was standing. Her feet were still extremely uncomfortable, but no longer in danger of frostbite.

When Luna returned after her hour outside, Professor Umbridge seemed almost angered that Luna wasn't in more pain than she was. She checked Luna's feet for evidence that the girl had applied warming spells to them, and once she determined none had been used on her person, she made Luna wait until Argus Filch confirmed that a large number of the icicles had been melted off the castle exterior. She then begrudgingly dismissed Luna, who went back to the Ravenclaw dorms to soak her feet.

* * *

By Wednesday evening, Luna had to put real effort into maintaining her serene disposition. She wasn't about to let her housemates see that she was upset, but the week was wearing her down. Professor Flitwick took her aside after Charms class and asked where her shoes were, to which Luna replied that she had lost them. All of them. The diminutive charms professor did not look convinced, and told Luna that if there was anything he could do, or anything she needed to talk about, his door was open to her. She thanked him sincerely, but she did not want to get her Head of House involved in the situation, for fear it would only make things worse.

Other than waving at Harry over supper, she hadn't seen him since the D.A. meeting. She had spoken with Ginny briefly after dinner, and the Gryffindor girl looked upset but unsurprised that Luna was still going around barefoot. Luna decided to go to the library to spend the rest of the evening, hoping she could find an open desk in the History of Magic section, so that she could avoid her fellow students. On her walk to the library, she unexpectedly found herself flanked on both sides by the Weasley twins.

"Hello, Fred. Hello, George," she said dreamily.

"So I was talking to my brother Fred..." began one of them.

"And Fred was talking to me," said the other.

"And I said to Fred, 'George, isn't that our Ginny's friend Luna Lovegood walking down the hallway?'"

"And I said, 'George, I think that _is_ Harry Potter's friend Luna'. And then I said 'But she doesn't appear to be wearing any shoes'."

"And I said, 'Perhaps our neighbour Miss Lovegood is going back to nature, and wants to feel the grass between her toes'."

"And I thought that was a fine idea. But I pointed out to Gred that there is no grass this time of year."

"And then I said to Forge that you would be unlikely to want to feel the stone floors of the castle between your toes..."

"Especially if you were trying to get back to nature..."

Luna couldn't help put smile at the banter of the two twins.

One of the seventh-years continued. "So I said to George, 'Fred, I think Luna may be the victim of a prank'."

"And I said to Fred, 'I think you're right George'. And I told him I was offended by this."

"So I asked George why he was offended..."

"And I told George that be poor Luna's feet must be very cold without any shoes..."

"And then Fred said to me that he was offended that someone would consider that a worthy prank..."

"Rather than a pathetic and juvenile one."

"But I pointed out that _we _were sometimes juvenile."

"And he said that there is 'fun-loving' juvenile and 'sad and pathetic' juvenile."

"And while we may sometimes be the former..."

"...this was clearly the latter."

"So I said to George, 'Gred, perhaps Miss Lovegood would help us show these incompetent pranksters what a true prank looks like."

"And I said to Fred, 'George, perhaps she would'."

"So we're here to ask..."

"... if you want these pseudo-pranksters..."

"... to find out what an _actual_ prank feels like."

They looked at her questioningly.

Luna turned to the boy to her left. "Thank you, Fred, but I don't know exactly who did this."

"I'm George" said the boy.

"No, he's George," she said, pointing to his brother. "You're Fred."

"How can you tell?"

Luna shrugged. "It's obvious."

"Huh," said Fred.

"Hmmm..." said George.

"Anyway, I don't know who did it, thank you both for asking. It's very sweet of you," she said and smiled at them.

"Well, if you _do_ find out, let us know," said George.

"It's one thing to prank a friend of our sisters..."

"... but another thing entirely to do it so unimaginatively."

"An insult to our professional standards!" exclaimed Fred.

"Bringing a bad name to pranksters everywhere," decried George.

They laughed and wandered off, giving a friendly salute to Luna as they left.

Luna felt much happier after that.

After the library, she returned to her dorm room, and found her all of her shoes, boots, slippers, and socks piled on her bed, with a folded slip of parchment on them. She opened the parchment, and saw someone had written "SORRY" on it in large block letters. Luna didn't recognize the handwriting, but she didn't care. She at least had her footwear back.

She was startled by a tap on the shoulder, and turned around to see Morgana Dempster looking at her. "I see you got your stuff back," she said quietly.

"Some of it," Luna said, looking directly into the small dark-haired girl's eyes.

"It wasn't me," Morgana said defensively.

"I didn't think so. Do you know who it was?"

Morgana shook her head, but looked away from Luna as she said it.

"Oh well," said Luna, turning away. She didn't really care who did it, so long as it stopped.

"You're really lucky, you know," Morgana said. At Luna's questioning look, she explained, "You can tell Harry really likes you. The way he talks to you, I mean." As Luna continued to look at her, Morgana continued, "I wish some boy would look at me the way he looks at you. You like him too, right?"

Luna nodded shyly.

"I thought so, but you're harder to read."

Luna thought that after nearly four years of sharing a room, Morgana should know her by now, but she didn't express that thought.

"Anyway, I hope you have a good time this weekend. You'll have to tell us about it..."

As the dark-haired girl said that, they heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Morgana stopped talking and turned away from Luna, which made the blonde frown slightly. Luna thought Morgana could turn out to be a good friend, if only she wasn't so concerned about what the other Ravenclaw girls thought of her.

Deirdre and Melanie entered the dorm the girls shared, and looked at Luna with a mixture of guilt and anger, but they didn't say anything to Luna that night, and they didn't comment on the return of her footwear.

* * *

Luna was feeling better on Thursday. Her returned possessions stayed returned, and Harry came over to say hello to her in the Great Hall after lunch. He smiled when he saw her wearing socks and shoes again. "They're back!"

Luna smiled at him. "Not my winter wear yet, but I'm sure they'll turn up," she said cheerfully. "I really hope I get back the scarf you gave me. I wanted to wear it on Saturday, you know."

"Yeah, me too."

"So your speech worked! You should go into public speaking, Harry. You'd be good at it," she said sincerely.

Harry frowned at that. "Ugh. No way."

"You do well at the meetings. You're good at it, Harry, just like you're good at teaching. You really should think about it."

"Maybe." Harry seemed unconvinced.

Luna asked him how his project was going.

"Pretty well, I think. Professor Flitwick's giving me the advice I need to get it right, so it should work out."

"I didn't see you as the type to go for extra credit," she said. "What is it you're doing?"

Harry smiled widely. "You'll see. If you're lucky." At Luna's questioning look, he laughed and said, "Payback."

Luna smiled at him. He said goodbye, got up, and touched her shoulder on his way out of the Great Hall.

* * *

When Luna got dressed the next morning, she looked in her trunk and saw all of her winter clothing had been placed it, along with the Gryffindor scarf Harry gave her. There was a note on top, saying "For Harry Potter's Miss Luna". When she was alone in the room, she called "Mr. Dobby", and when popped into the room, she threw her arms around him, gave him a tight hug, and thanked him profusely.

The house elf was clearly not used to being hugged, or being called "Mister", and stammered out, "Dobby is glad to make you happy, Miss Luna", and looked almost embarrassed before he popped out of the room when she let him go.

It was a very cheerful Luna who went to the Great Hall for breakfast. She piled bangers and mash onto her plate and cheerfully dug in to her breakfast, when the morning owls came in. Luna was surprised to have an owl drop a small box in front of her, and gave the owl a large piece of sausage in gratitude. Opening the box, she saw a letter from her father.

_Dear Moonbeam,_

_I hope all is going well for you at Hogwarts. I envy you, being able to spend all day learning and finding out new and amazing things, and not having to worry about things like subscriber issues and unreliable suppliers, but I suppose you have your own deadlines and problems to worry about!_

_I've been getting the articles for March's Snorkack issue together. I think that one may be our best issue yet._

_As per your last owl, I have enclosed your copy of the Tales of Beedle the Bard to give to your friend Harry. I hope he enjoys it as much as you did, and make sure he pays particular attention to the Tale of the Three Brothers. I'd like to hear what he thinks of it, should I ever get a chance to meet the boy._

_I've also enclosed the October 1990 issue of _The Quibbler _for your friend Hermione. It gladdens my heart to know your mother's last published article is still being enjoyed by seekers of knowledge, and I hope Hermione enjoys it as much as your dear mother enjoyed writing it. She may find the rest of the issue interesting as well – I wrote a particularly good article in that one about the cruel disciplinary measures then then-newly-appointed Minister Fudge was using to keep his Heliopaths in line. You'll have to tell me what she thinks._

_Speaking of Hermione, I got an owl from her and Ginny Weasley saying that all your winter clothing disappeared! I do hope you're taking the appropriate precautions against Nargles, my little treasure. You _know_ how they can be. I have enclosed a jacket, woollen hat, gloves, and boots for you, in case those naughty Nargles don't give your things back. They all have notice-me-not charms on them that will activate when you're not wearing them, so hopefully the Nargles and other mischievous creatures won't be able to take them! I had the charms attuned so that you would be able to see them at all times, __of course._

_Hermione and Ginny mentioned you're having a Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow, and that's why you needed some winter clothes. I hope you have fun with your friends, and don't overdo it on the Honeydukes chocolates. You know how eating too much of them at once will attract the Jamboling Rimesprites._

_Send your old man an owl when you get the chance._

_Love,_

_Daddy_

Luna looked in the box, and saw the items her father had mentioned in his letter, all in their miniaturized form. She looked over at the Gryffindor table to try and catch Ginny's and Hermione's glances, but neither of them were there.

She ran into them after supper that evening, and gave Hermione a tight hug in gratitude (which the brunette was obviously not expecting, and returned tentatively) and then did the same to Ginny.

"Daddy said you wrote to him," Luna said to the two Gryffindors.

"We didn't want you to miss your first date," said Ginny smilingly. "It was actually Hermione's idea."

Luna looked at Hermione in gratitude. "Thank you," she said sincerely. "I got the rest of my things back this morning, but thank you all the same. That was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me."

"You're welcome," Hermione said to the blonde girl, slightly embarrassed.

"Oh, and Daddy sent you this," Luna said, handing her the back issue of _The Quibbler_ which came that morning.

Ginny covered her mouth to suppress a giggle as she saw what Luna gave Hermione.

Hermione thanked Luna, and explained to Ginny, "It has an article on runes that sounded interesting. Luna's mother wrote it."

Ginny no longer had to suppress a laugh, until Luna went on. "It also has an article on Cornelius Fudge's Heliopath army that you should read, Hermione. Maybe you can borrow it later, Ginny," she said helpfully.

Ginny went red, choking a little at Hermione's expression.

Hermione tactfully changed the subject. "So are you all ready for your date, Luna?"

"Yes, I think so, now that I have all my things back."

"Would you like our help getting ready?" Ginny asked.

"No, I think I can dress myself. But thank you anyway," Luna said cheerfully.

Ginny frowned a little. "That's not what I meant. Do you need any make-up tips, any help with your hair, or jewellery, that kind of thing?"

"Well, I wasn't planning on wearing make-up. I don't actually own any."

"I have something you can borrow, Luna. I got it for Christmas, but I'll let you use it. It's a charmed lipstick that responds to your mood and skin and lip colour to adjust to how you're feeling, and what you want. So if you're happy and just having fun with friends, it looks simple and subdued, and if you're smouldering with an intent to seduce, for example, it might show as a deep, vibrant, sexy red." Ginny had a wide smile as she said that.

"Ginny! I don't think Luna needs _that_ on a first date!" Hermione said, somewhat scandalized.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "I'm not saying it will go like _that_ for Luna tomorrow. Unless you really want it to, that is," she said teasingly at the Ravenclaw girl. Luna blushed at that. "It's just fun, and I know how Luna likes charmed jewellery and stuff. I just thought she might want to try it."

"It sounds lovely, thank you," Luna said to her friend, as Ginny shot a _See?_ look at Hermione.

"What are you doing with your hair?" Hermione asked.

"I thought I'd wear it like this," Luna said, pointing to her usual free-flowing, slightly tangled style.

"You might want to try something different, for fun," Hermione said quickly. "Boys like it when you change things up a little. I know Viktor liked it when I changed my hair for our date."

"That was a _ball_," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. "This is Hogsmeade."

"I'm not saying Luna should spend hours at a hairdresser," Hermione said at Ginny. Turning to Luna, she suggested, "How about a nice, loose ponytail, gathered at the back of your neck? Your hair would look good like that, being as long as it is. You could even throw it over the front of your shoulder for a bit of panache."

Ginny considered this intently. "That might work. What do you say?" she asked Luna.

"That sounds nice and easy. You think Harry will like it?"

Hermione said to her, "I think he'd like anything you do with your hair, to be honest."

Luna blushed again.

"So what about jewellery?" Ginny asked. "Do you have any special necklaces, other than that one?" she asked, pointing at Luna's butterbeer one.

"I was going to wear this one, and my chili pepper earrings that Harry said he liked. They have a warming charm, you know."

Ginny asked, "Do you have anything else?"

Hermione jumped in, "You should wear the necklace you're wearing, Luna. Trust me, I know Harry likes it," she said as Ginny raised her eyebrow questioningly. "He says is one of the things that makes you _you_."

Luna smiled. "Good. I was planning to anyway – I wouldn't want Nargles ruining my date."

Hermione was very proud that she didn't roll her eyes at that.

The Ravenclaw girl continued, "Anyway, thank you for your suggestions. It's nice, talking about something like this with other girls. I didn't think anyone would ever want to talk about anything like that with me, what with everyone thinking I'm so strange."

Hermione didn't know how to react to that. Ginny, who had more experience with Luna, said, "It's fun. How often do we get to help someone with their first date?"

"Well, I should get my weekend studying done. See you both tomorrow!"

"Bye, Luna," the two Gryffindors girls said, as they went back to their common room.

Luna hummed happily all the way back to the Ravenclaw common room, daydreaming happily of what tomorrow would bring.


	7. Tea

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers apply. The proper people have the proper rights over the proper things, and I do not, which is also proper.

Protection From Nargles

Part 7 - Tea

_January, 1996._

Feeling rather more nervous than he would like, Harry Potter made his way to the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room. Doing this while not skulking about under his Cloak of Invisibility was a new experience for Harry, and it felt strangely _weird_, as he almost missed the coziness of the Cloak around him. He also knew that once he arrived at his destination, his usual companion wouldn't have the excuse to have cuddle up to him without the Cloak to huddle under. This was obviously disappointing to the young man, but he considered it a worthwhile sacrifice if he could spend the day out in the open with Luna Lovegood.

His rational mind knew he had little to be nervous about, but he still was, all the same. The date he had planned with Luna in Hogsmeade should be lots of fun for both of them, and given the past few weeks he had spent with the younger girl, he probably didn't have anything to worry about. However, other than the disastrous date with Parvati Patil to the Yule Ball last year, this was his first real date, and it was Luna's first date as well. He wanted to make certain this day was perfect for her, and feared he would find some way to inadvertently mess it up.

His worry must have been obvious at breakfast, as Seamus Finnigan had commented, "Man, Harry, maybe you should cancel your date with Loony. The way you look, her love potions must be wearing off. Or she slipped you one where the Ashwinder eggs had gone off."

"Don't call her Loo..., wait, _what_?"

Seamus was grinning at his housemate. "Haven't you heard? The rumour is that you asked her out because she's been slipping you love potions."

"That's..."

Dean Thomas had interjected, "What I heard is that you're planning some elaborate prank on her with the Weasley Twins, and the whole 'date' is just the setup for the jape of the year."

"I would never..."

Ron Weasley had piped up at this point, "Nah, you guys got it wrong. The real story as I heard it is that Luna's blackmailing Harry into dating her with some compromising photos one of _The Quibbler_'s photographers took of him during the Triwizard Tournament."

Harry had been getting exasperated at this point. "Ron, you _know_ that's not..."

Hermione Granger had sighed loudly at this point. "Boys, stop teasing Harry," she said in her bossy-but-caring manner.

Harry had looked at his roommates and saw them all grinning at him. "Don't worry, Harry, we don't actually believe any of that," said Seamus. "That _was_ the rumour I heard, though."

"Are all those rumours actually going around?" Harry had asked incredulously. Upon seeing Ron, Dean and Hermione all nodding, Harry went on. "Bloody hell, people think those are more likely than me genuinely wanting to go to Hogsmeade with Luna?"

"_Language_," Hermione had said, to the snickers of the other boys at the table. "She's really not very popular, Harry. And even with what the papers are saying, you're still _Harry Potter_. People think you're out of her league."

Harry shook his head. "Lovely. That's horrible. None of it is true at all. I hope none of this has gotten back to Luna. She doesn't need to hear that kind of thing."

No one answered that.

"Great. As if I didn't have enough to worry about."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Harry, I've seen how that girl looks at you. You have nothing to worry about. Just have fun today."

Ron had leaned in to Harry and said in a voice so low only Harry could hear, "And if things get awkward with her, just snog her. She still wanted to hang out with you after the first one, so either you're good at it, or her standards are really low. Either way..."

Seeing the way Ron waggled his eyebrows at that, Harry brandished a fist in a mock-menacing matter at the tall redheaded boy, but that had cut the nervousness he was feeling. Although it was slowly creeping back up as he stood outside the portrait to the Ravenclaw common room and waited for Luna.

After what seemed like an extraordinarily long amount of time, but was probably only about five minutes, Luna emerged into the hallway. Just like their trip to the lake a week previous, she was wearing a rainbow of colours – her lime-and-cherry jacket, and the crimson-and-gold Gryffindor scarf he had given her. An orange skirt peeked out from under her her coat, and then indigo leggings and ankle-high baby blue boots (which matched one another this time). She was also carrying a large white canvas bag. The only colour she was missing was purple. She looked far more colourful than he did – he wore a long brown jacket, crimson-and-gold Gryffindor sweater, blue jeans and brown boots. Fortunately, she had enough colours for the both of them.

She'd changed her hair as well – a low, loose ponytail, tied beside her neck with a Ravenclaw blue-and-bronze ribbon, with the long ponytail hanging over her shoulder most of the way down the front of her jacket. As usual, she had her butterbeer cork necklace on, and wore her wand behind her left ear. For earrings, she wore the chili pepper set. She had a warm, wide smile on her face when she saw Harry waiting for her, and Harry noticed that her lips had a touch of candy-floss-pink colour to them.

"Hi Luna. You look great," he said sincerely.

She smiled shyly at that. "Thank you. So do you. I hope I didn't keep you waiting – you don't know what you kind of creatures you might attract, standing alone in the hallway."

He smiled and offered her his arm, which she took. "Well, we know it can't be Nargles. And I'm feeling too clear-headed for me to be under the influence of Wrackspurts..."

"Unless they're making your thoughts so fuzzy that they've gone all the way 'round to the other side, so that you think you're perfectly fine..." she pointed out as they began to walk together down the hallway.

Harry chuckled slightly and shook his head. "I still don't think I've been Wrackspurted." That got a laugh from Luna. "Anything else roaming the castle I should be aware of?"

She considered that question deeply. "Well, there's..."

Luna was interrupted by a shouting voice. "_Loony loves Potter!_ How are the love potions working for you, Loony?" Harry and Luna turned to see Lucretia Marquand laughing at them with the same two friends she had with her when she hexed Luna a week ago.

"... Slytherins," Luna continued with a frown.

"Ignore them," Harry said soothingly. "What's her problem, anyway?"

Luna sighed. "I'm her target this year. She picks a new girl every year to pick on. I'm just surprised it took four years for her to fixate on me. I'm quite the outcast, you know."

"Well, you're worth fifty of her. And you're not an outcast with me." That got him a wide smile from the Ravenclaw girl. "Did she start the love potion rumour?"

Luna's eyes widened. "You heard that rumour?"

Harry nodded. "From Seamus Finnigan this morning. I set him straight, although he didn't really believe it in the first place."

Luna sighed. "I'm sorry you have to put up with all this. I understand if..."

Harry interrupted her. "No, Luna, no. I'm not going to bail on you because of a bunch of stupid rumours spread by idiots. You promised to come with me to Hogsmeade, and I'm holding you to that."

She patted his arm with her free hand. "Good. I try to keep all my promises, you know. Oath-breaking upsets the Blibbering Humdingers, and they have a very nasty disposition when they're upset."

"We wouldn't want that."

"No, we wouldn't."

Arm in arm, they made their way out the castle.

"Do you want to walk to Hogsmeade or take a carriage? Ron and Hermione said they'd save us a seat in one."

Luna pondered that. "Let's take a carriage today. It will be a nice change, I think. I usually walk to Hogsmeade – other riders sometimes give me nasty looks when I take carriages, and I don't like to make people uncomfortable. I don't think Hermione would do that, though."

Harry noted that once again, her matter-of-fact tone belied the sad content of her statement. He patted the hand that was holding his arm. "No, she wouldn't. And Ron won't either."

"That's nice. It would be uncomfortable for you, I think, if your friends disliked me."

"It would be, but I'd cope. They don't get a vote in who I go out with." She smiled at him for that. "I know they were surprised that I asked you out, but they didn't dislike you."

Luna looked appraisingly at him, but said nothing.

"They just didn't know you, that's all," he said weakly.

Deciding to change the subject, he said, "I see you went with the chili peppers today. Good idea – they'll keep you warm."

Luna nodded. "You never know how cold it will get in January, and I didn't want to mess up my hair with a hat today."

"It looks really nice like that."

"Thank you. Hermione actually suggested it."

That surprised Harry. "I didn't know you two shared hairstyling tips."

"We didn't, until yesterday. It's a bit of a new experience for me, getting helpful advice from someone friendly. She and Ginny were very nice about that."

"They're good people," he said as they approached the carriages. They wandered together towards the first one. "Ron? Hermione?" he shouted.

"In here, Harry!" he heard Ron yell and saw a hand waving from the first carriage.

Harry led Luna into the carriage, where they saw Ron and Hermione sitting side-by-side, and opposite them, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil sitting beside one another, reading the latest copy of _Teen Witch Monthly_ together. That left two seats on opposite benches for the pair to sit in – Luna next to Ron, and Harry next to Lavender.

The six teens exchanged greetings all around. Lavender looked up from her magazine at Harry and Luna, and said, "I heard you two are doing Hogsmeade together." At Harry's nod, she went on, "What are you planning on doing?"

Harry blushed a little, "No real definite plans. Hanging out, looking for fun things to do, spending some time together..." Luna smiled at him when he said that.

"You should got to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shoppe. Seamus took me there last spring. They serve tea and coffee and all kinds of little cakes. All the couples like to go there. It's _so_ romantic..." Lavender said wistfully.

"Just make sure he doesn't ignore you, Luna," Parvati said evenly, not looking up from her magazine.

Harry wanted to sink into the floor, as Lavender turned to her friend, and admonished, "Parvati!"

"Well, he ignored me at the Yule Ball," Parvati said to her roommate. Ron unsuccessfully tried to stifle a chuckle at this, and Parvati shot him a look. "Like _you're_ any better," she said, referring to Ron's date with her sister Padma at the Yule Ball.

Harry was not happy at this tense start to his date, but Luna spoke up. "Thank you for the warning, Parvati," she said sincerely. "Harry is quite susceptible to Wrackspurts, you know, and that can be one of the symptoms. I'll keep an eye on that."

Lavender broke out laughing at that, and Parvati smiled as well, saying "Is _that_ what it was, Harry? '_Wrackspurts_' got you?"

Ron laughed again at Harry's distress, and Hermione was trying to suppress a smile.

"Maybe it was," Harry said sheepishly, "but I really am sorry for ignoring you that night, Parvati."

Parvati let him stew for a few seconds, before saying, "Apology accepted, Harry. It's o.k., after I ditched you, I had a lot of fun with that boy from Beauxbatons."

"_Rodrigo_", Lavender said smilingly. "He was _so_ handsome!"

Parvati continued, "So keep that in mind if he gets out of line, Luna – you can always find someone else."

"I will, Parvati," the Ravenclaw said, "but I don't think it will be a problem." She flashed a small smile at Harry and reaching out to pat his hand.

Changing the topic, Lavender asked, "So is this a double date for you four?"

Hermione's eyes widened at this. Ron looked distinctly uncomfortable as he answered, "Er, um... no, it's not." He gestured to himself and Hermione. "We're not on a date. Just them," he said pointing to Harry and Luna. "Although we're going to be getting together with Neville at the Three Broomsticks at four. Ginny and the twins may drop by. You two," he said, pointing to Harry and Luna again, "should as well. You're welcome to come as well, Lavender, Parvati."

Harry saw Lavender's expression brighten when Ron mentioned that he and Hermione weren't on a date. He looked over at Luna, who had obviously noticed the same thing. The way Hermione's eyes narrowed slightly, she must have noticed this a well.

Ron was totally oblivious to all of this.

The sextet rode in silence for a few minutes. Luna broke the silence by saying, "Oh, Harry, I almost forgot. Daddy sent this for you." She pulled out a book from her bag and handed it to him.

"_The Tales of Beedle the Bard_. Thanks, Luna."

"Daddy said you have to let him know what you think of the _Tale of the Three Brothers_."

Ron laughed. "Ooooh, you have to give a book report to Mr. Lovegood, Harry?" Hermione pinched his arm. "What was that for?" he exclaimed at her.

"_The Three Brothers_ was always my favourite," said Parvati. "Imagine having a Cloak of Invisibility – think of all the juicy gossip we could find out, Lavender!"

Hermione, Ron, Harry and Luna were all intently silent at that.

Lavender responded, "Or we could visit the boys' shower room..." She and Parvati giggled at that. Hermione shot a look at Harry, who held up his palms and shook his head. She stared at him anyway, which Harry interpreted as "_Don't get any ideas_".

"You've never read that, Harry?" Lavender asked.

"No, Muggle children don't have this one. We had fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen. Full of fairy godmothers and evil witches."

Ron piped up, "I didn't know Muggles wrote about Pansy Parkinson!" That got a laugh from the whole compartment.

Harry didn't mention that his aunt and uncle never read _him_ any fairy tales at all. He opened the book and read the inscription. "_To our darling Luna. Happy 6__th__ birthday! February 19, 1987. Love, Daddy and Mummy._" He leaned over to his date, and whispered, "I'll take good care of it until I'm done. I have something for you, too, but I'll give it to you afterwards."

Harry obviously wasn't a quiet as he thought, as Ron said, "Oh come on, Harry, let's see what you got Luna." Hermione pinched his arm again. "Ow! Will you stop that, Hermione! Come on, Harry. Luna wasn't shy about giving you the cork charm in front of us."

Lavender interjected, "Yes, Harry, let's see. Unless you got Luna something _naughty_," which caused Parvati and her to giggle again, and Hermione to roll her eyes.

Harry looked at Luna, who smiled back at him excitedly. "Trust me?" he asked. At her nod, he directed, "Close your eyes and give me your foot."

She lifted up her right leg and placed it on his lap, and closed her eyes. He untied her boot, and took it off, revealing green-and-white striped socks. He was vaguely disappointed that they weren't purple. He reached into his jacket pocket, and pulled out a ring of two-inch wide orange lilies woven together. He slipped over her foot and past her ankle, lightly touching her foot with his fingertips as he did so, eliciting a small but audible sigh from her as he did so. He then took out his wand and tapped the anklet, incanting '_fervesco_'.

"Open your eyes."

She did so, and looked down at her ankle. Her large grey eyes widened in appreciation. "It's beautiful! Thank you, Harry! Was this your project with Professor Flitwick?"

He grinned at her. "Yeah. It may not be as good as your charms work, but I think it turned out well."

Smiling, she said, "It did. I can feel my feet warming up – both of them."

"That was the hard part, getting it to work on your other foot, too. That's what took so long. The flowers are fire lilies, from the greenhouses. I cast a preserving charm on them, so this should last for years." He began putting her boot back on as he said this.

"It's wonderful. I hope you got full marks for this."

"I did. Professor Flitwick said he was 'pleased at my initiative' in doing some creative charms work."

Lavender spoke up, which reminded Harry that it wasn't just he and Luna in the compartment. "That's so _sweet_!" she said sincerely. "That's even better than jewellery!"

Harry blushed at that.

Ron spoke. "Charms have become their 'thing', Lavender. It's really quite nauseating," he said with a wink at Harry. Luna joined Harry in blushing at that.

"Well, I think it's romantic," Lavender said. "Much nicer than just a bouquet of flowers or some chocolates – although those are nice too. Remember that, next time you're trying to impress a girl, Ron," she said with a lilt in her voice. Hermione rolled her eyes in response, and Parvati giggled.

The carriage came to a stop as they arrived in Hogsmeade, and the six students got out. Luna walked over to the front of the carriage where the thestrals were reined to it. She petted them, whispered something inaudible to Harry to them, and reached into her bag and pulled out two chunks of meat wrapped in wax paper and fed the skeletal winged horses. Harry saw exactly what she was doing, but the other four watched what looked to be Luna interacting with thin air. She then turned around to her travelling companions, and said, "I don't think anyone ever thanks them for pulling us all the time."

Parvati and Lavender clearly had no idea how to react to that.

Harry told Ron and Hermione that he and Luna would likely meet them at the Three Broomsticks later, and the sextet bade each other goodbye and went their separate ways. Harry took Luna's hand in his, and the walked down the High Street.

The air was crisp but not cold, and the sun was shining in that January way that provided light but very little in the way of warmth. A few clouds drifted across the morning sky. It was idea weather for a winter day in Hogsmeade Village.

The first place they headed towards was the Hogsmeade Post Office. Harry explained, "Now thatThat Woman is intercepting my mail, I've told people to send me letters there. Not that I get many in the first place, mind you. _She_ will likely be watching you more, so you might want to make similar arrangements."

"It's o.k., Harry. Daddy and I have our ways of communicating privately through the mail." She saw his questioning look, and said serenely, "It's a Lovegood family secret – and we've sworn not to tell anyone other than family members. So I can't tell you about it - for a while yet, at least."

He blanched.

Luna laughed. "I'm _teasing_, Harry. You're very easy, you know."

Harry shook his head and smiled. "You're as bad as Ron sometimes."

"Yes, he does like to tease you, doesn't he? It seems to all be in good fun, though. I hope he's not doing it because of me."

Harry said reassuringly, "No, he'd do this no matter who my date was. Just wait until he starts dating, though – I'm going to be merciless to him."

"Did you tease each other like that at the Yule Ball?"

Harry shook his head. "No, we were both too nervous about the whole thing, and relieved we got dates at all. Listen, I'm sorry about that in the carriage with Parvati. That must have been awkward for you."

She considered that. "It wasn't bad – it must have been for more awkward for you, I would think."

"I wanted to hide," he said sheepishly.

"That wouldn't have been very Gryffindor of you, Harry. And you did apologize to her, which I think she appreciated. She doesn't seem to hold it against you."

"Good. Still, I am sorry about that. Not the way I wanted to start our day together."

"Oh it's o.k., Harry. Parvati and Lavender were quite nice." She whispered to him, "I think Lavender likes Ron. So maybe you'll be teasing him sooner than you think."

"I may just do so anyway. Payback." He chuckled at that.

They walked in silence the rest of the way to the Hogsmeade Post Office. Luna waited outside – because of the owl smell – while Harry went inside. He presented his wand for identification to the post office clerk, who after verifying his identity, returned his wand and gave him a letter from Remus Lupin, which he put into pocket for later.

Upon exiting the Post Office, he saw Luna being spoken at heatedly by girl with short blonde hair, who stood a head taller than Luna, who he thought he recognized as a fourth-year Slytherin. The Slytherin girl touched Luna's arm in an almost gentle way, and Harry heard her tell Luna, "Don't worry, Loony, we're here for you if you need it," while giving Harry an if-looks-could-kill stare. She then left Luna, and as she walked by Harry, muttered "_Deviant_" darkly at him, and stomped off.

Harry slipped Luna's hand into his, and asked his companion, "What the bloody hell was that?"

"That was Georgina Vector – she's Professor Vector's grand-niece. A Slytherin in my year. It was very strange; apparently she heard that you were using your dark powers on me, because you want to defile as many pureblood witches as you can. I'm also apparently somewhat mad – that's nothing new – and weak-minded as well, and that's why you're starting with me."

Harry had no idea what to say at this.

"She said that if I want them to, some friends of hers are ready to rescue me from your half-blood clutches. It's the strangest thing – she's acting like her head's full of Wrackspurts, but she was being very supportive."

"That explains why she called me a 'deviant'. Is she a friend or something?"

Luna shook her head. "No, but other than calling me 'Loony', laughing at some pranks people play on me, and just now saying I'm mad and easily influenced, she's never been especially mean to me. I know she doesn't get along with Lucretia."

"Huh. So a _Slytherin_ calls me a dark wizard... and despoiler of pureblood girls to boot." He ran his fingers through his hair, destroying what minimal semblance of order he had been able to give to his hair for his date. "Well, at least it's more imaginative than the 'love potion' rumour."

"I know. It's like one of those weird Letters to the Editor that Daddy just puts into the 'crank' file in his desk."

Harry laughed at that. "I suppose those are a hazard of the job."

Luna nodded. "He prints some of them occasionally for a laugh. Like the 'moon frog' letter in the issue you were reading on the train. I don't know if you read that story," she waited for Harry's nod before continuing, "but the writer was clearly deluded. Everyone knows that the moon frogs are extinct. Otherwise, those Muggle astronauts would have brought some back with them. Unless they really did, and it's being covered up..."

This was one of those time Harry had no idea what to say. So he didn't.

"Anyway, I'll have a talk with her. She's got the wrong idea about you. Right?"

Harry squeezed her hand gently. "Exactly. I'm not trying to take advantage you, although I don't think you're the type to let anyone do that. Everyone always underestimates you."

"You don't," Luna said gently.

"I know you too well to do that."

"You didn't even when you didn't know me, though."

He blushed a little. "Georgina's totally wrong about everything, by the way. My 'half-blood agenda' certainly does _not_ involve moving on to 'defile' other girls."

She laughed at that, and stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Good. Anything at the Post Office?"

"A letter from Remus – Professor Lupin. If you don't mind, I may want to write him a short letter afterwards. I can't really send him one from the castle these days."

"That's fine, Harry. Maybe we should go to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop next."

They walked hand-in-hand to Scrivenshaft's, ignoring the nasty looks he got from Georgina and her friends, and the occasional glare she got from some of the Ravenclaw girls. Once there, Harry bought some writing parchment, a new quill and a small portable inkwell, and Luna bought herself a large black quill of a kind he'd never seen before. "It's a cassowary quill," she explained as they paid. "They're from New Guinea. I've never owned one before. I like the unusual, you know."

Harry didn't think there was anyone who had met the young woman who _didn't_ know that. As they left the store, he said, "That must be why you spend time with me," he said teasingly.

"That or your dark powers," she said smiling at him.

Suddenly there was a flash, and Harry had his wand in his hand almost without thinking. He looked for the source of the flash, and saw Colin Creevey, holding his camera and looking quite scared. "Harry! It's just me... taking a picture..." he said meekly.

"Sorry, Colin," Harry said, tucking his wand back into his jacket. With a note of suspicion in his voice, he asked "Why were you taking our picture?"

The younger boy said, "My parents got me a new camera for Christmas – it's a wizarding camera. I wanted to take some pictures of Hogsmeade for Dennis, to show him what he can look forward to next year. When I saw you two coming out of Scrivenshaft's, I just knew it would make a great photo, so I had to take it. I hope you don't mind."

Luna spoke before Harry could. "No, that's all right, Colin. Would I be able to get a print of it? I've never had my picture taken at Hogwarts before."

"I'd like one too, please," Harry added.

"You bet, guys," Colin said gratefully. "I should be able to get you them by the end of the day – I'm getting them developed around noon."

"We'll be at the Three Broomsticks with a few others after about four, if you want to drop them off," Harry said.

Colin smiled widely at him. "Great! If the shot turned out like I hope, you'll really like it."

Harry turned serious. "This is a weird request, but could you promise me you won't sell any pictures of me to _The Daily Prophet_? After the way they've been treating me, I don't want to give them any ammo."

Luna raised an eyebrow at 'ammo', but Colin, who was Muggle-born, knew what Harry meant. "Don't worry about that. After the lies they've been telling about you, Harry, I had my Dad cancel our subscription. They won't get anything from me."

Harry clapped him on the shoulder and thanked him. Luna said, "If you have any good photos, you can send them into _The Quibbler_, Colin. Daddy doesn't pay much, but he's always looking for good new photojournalists. And if you get any pictures of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, I'd certainly like one."

"Er, thanks, Loo-, um, Luna. I'll keep all that in mind." Colin then said goodbye to the couple.

As they walked on, Luna commented, "You don't like Colin very much."

"That's not..." he saw her staring at him intently. "He used to follow me around a lot. It was very annoying. He acts like I'm some great hero, or something."

Luna said, "I can see how that would be a little much. But he's a very nice boy, and he really does look up to you. We sparred on Monday in the Room, and he's very glad you're teaching us all."

"You always think the best of people, Luna," he said admiringly.

"Not always, Harry, but most people are basically decent sorts, even if some of them do their best to hide it."

"He almost called you 'Loony'."

"But he didn't. And almost everyone calls me 'Loony', so it really doesn't bother me. Much." Her silver eyes clouded slightly at that. "Except you – you never do. It's very nice."

He grabbed her hand and squeezed gently.

"I don't like being called that," she continued, "but you know what they say, Harry. 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me'. Except True Names, of course, but I highly doubt that 'Loony' is my True Name."

"I don't know much about True Names," he confessed.

"That's doesn't surprise me," Luna said. "There's a lot of things they don't teach here, but you know my theory as to why. Mummy did a lot of research into True Names when she was younger, though. She had some good books on the topic – you're welcome to read them if you ever visit me at home."

"I'd like that," he said smiling at her.

"Oh, that would be so nice!" she said excitedly. "We'll have ever so much fun – I can show you Daddy's office and press, and Mummy's library, and my room of course, and all of the wonderful places I used to play as a child! And we can look for the field nymphs that Mummy swore she once saw on our property, and you can try my dirigible plum preserves... And I _know_ Daddy wants to meet you. Maybe you can visit over the summer – or at Easter. I'll have to owl Daddy and see what he says."

Harry grinned at her enthusiasm, even if he did find the thought of meeting his friend's father somewhat intimidating. While he knew that Xenophilius Lovegood would be unlikely to be polishing a shotgun during any visit Harry made, he could easily imagine the man aiming his wand and asking Harry some very pointed questions. Harry had heard stories growing up about overprotective fathers, but he imagined overprotective _wizard_ fathers would be that much worse.

Luna snapped him out of his thoughts by saying, "Colin's right, you know. You _are_ a hero."

Harry shook his head. "I didn't think you bought into all that Boy-Who-Lived stuff, Luna."

She smiled indulgently at him. "Not _that_ Harry. I don't think it's possible to be a heroic baby, no matter what people say. Although a baby letting its parents sleep through the night would be quite heroic. To the parents, at least." Harry stifled a laugh, and Luna collected her thoughts. "I mean doing things like taking charge of the D.A. You're teaching us all how to defend ourselves, and stand up to Professor Umbridge." Harry started to object, but Luna just spoke over his objections. "That _is_ heroic, Harry. You're running a tremendous risk, with very little gain for yourself, for a bunch of people who largely didn't believe you at the beginning of the year. And you stand up for what you believe in. _That_'s true heroism, Harry. It makes you very special."

Harry was blushing through that. He was unused to being complimented so sincerely. Flattery he had got used to, even if there was less of it this year than in previous ones, but that wasn't what Luna was doing at all. It made him feel simultaneously happy that she thought so highly of him, and extremely uncomfortable. So he simply squeezed her hand and thanked her.

They went to the bookshop next. Along the way they passed Morgana Dempster, who gave Luna a little wave and a small smile as she passed them. Once in the store, Luna immediately went over to the 'Flora and Fauna' shelves, while Harry looked around. His usual first stop was the sport section, but he found himself uninterested in reading about Quidditch now that he was under Dolores Umbridge's lifetime ban. Looking in the biography section, he found an interesting book, _Memoirs of the Late War against Grindelwald_, by an Arminius Esterhazy, who the jacket said was an officer in the Joint North American Magical Expeditionary Force in that war. From what Harry could see while flipping through it, it was part memoir and part duelling manual, showing Mr. Esterhazy's offensive and defensive spells and tricks he used against Grindelwald's followers. Harry thought there might be some useful information for Dumbledore's Army, and picked up a copy.

He went over to the shelves where Luna was still standing. She was looking at an ornately illustrated tome, which looked to be printed before the First World War, showing animated drawings of various creatures Harry had never seen before. Seeing Harry standing beside her, she turned to a page which showed a grinning blue faerie with four arms and sea-green gossamer wings which fluttered as Harry watched. '_Nargle – indigenous to the British Isles and Iceland_' ran the legend underneath.

"So _that_'s what they look like."

"When they're visible," Luna said excitedly. "Which isn't often – only for an hour at on the night of the equinoxes. And you have to surprise them. And they're very tiny."

"What is that book?"

"_Rare Arcane Faunae of Western Europe_, by Livia Lovegood," Luna said.

"Lovegood?"

Luna nodded. "She was a great-great-great-aunt of mine. This book was printed in 1896, and Daddy said there were only about twenty copies made. I think there's one in the Restricted Section of the library, but I've never seen it."

The Nargle in the book turned its head towards Harry and winked at him.

Harry suddenly had an idea. He reached into his his pocket and pulled out the butterbeer cork charm Luna had given him weeks before. He slowly moved it towards the illustration of the Nargle and watched, fascinated, as the drawing's eyes got wide with shock and it started to fly up the page to get away from Harry's charm.

Luna laughed at this and clapped her hands excitedly. "I told you it worked!"

He gave her hand a squeeze. "I just had to try it," he said as she grinned.

She closed the book, and reluctantly put it back on the shelf.

"Aren't you going to buy it?" Harry asked.

Luna shook her head sadly. "I don't have twenty-three galleons. I'll owl Daddy and let him know it's here, but I don't know if they'll be able to keep such a wonderful book for long. I'm going to go look at the rune section, Harry."

As Harry went to the counter to purchase _Memoirs of the Late War_, he also knew what he had to get Luna for her birthday next month. Sure, the twenty-three galleon price was extravagant (the Esterhazy book only cost one galleon four sickles), but as he imagined the look on her face when she opened the book, he knew couldn't miss the opportunity to make her that happy. He paid the clerk for both books, and asked that the store keep _Rare Arcane Faunae_ for him until the next Hogsmeade weekend, which was scheduled for just before Luna's birthday. The clerk shrunk _Memoirs of the Late War_ for Harry to put into his jacket pocket, and he went back to Luna in the rune section.

"See anything you like?"

She shoo her head. "Nothing other than that book by my great-great-great-aunt. Did you buy something, Harry?"

"A book from a veteran against Grindelwald. It may have some interesting suggestions for the D.A." He took her hand again. "Would you like to try Madam Puddifoot's?"

"Yes I would, Harry. Lavender made it sound very nice."

Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shoppe was obviously very popular among Hogwarts students, as Harry and Luna had to wait twenty minutes for a table to open up. Eventually they were seated at a table by the window. They ordered a pot of Madam Puddifoot's house blend, and a selection of finger sandwiches for later.

Harry looked around and saw why Lavender Brown thought the place was so romantic. All around couple were holding hands, engaged in intimate conversion, or kissing one another. Some were making out so intensely that Harry was surprised they weren't being escorted off the premises for public indecency. Every table seemed to be taken by a young couple – there looked to be no single patrons in the shop.

He glanced at Luna who was dreamily looking around the place at all the other couples, as she took off her jacket, revealing a soft-looking hot pink sweater underneath. At the table next to them sat Cho Chang and Roger Davies, who were holding hands and speaking closely with one another. Cho noticed Harry and gave him a friendly wave, which Harry returned before turning back to Luna.

"Cho must be happy," Luna said. "Roger is very popular with the Ravenclaw girls. Lots of them were really jealous that he took Fleur Delacour at the Yule Ball last year."

"Well, she had an advantage that they didn't."

"Yes," Luna said thoughtfully. "That accent."

"I meant her being half-Veela."

"Oh no, I'm sure it was her French accent. Boys love that." She glanced over at Roger again. "He does seem to attract all the prettiest girls."

Harry reached for her hands and said quietly, "Not all of them, I hope."

She blushed intensely, and excused herself to go to the ladies' room. Harry took the opportunity to open and read Remus' letter.

_Dear Harry,_

_Just a short note to see how you're holding up. I hope Professor Umbridge isn't terrorising you too __much, and that her Quidditch ban hasn't got you feeling too down. I dare say if a Boggart appeared in your classes these days, more than a few students would be seeing her._

_Our efforts to convince the Ministry of You-Know-Who's return continue to be unsuccessful, as you can probably tell by from the stories in the Prophet, assuming you're still reading that rag._

_Tonks wanted me to say hello to you and your friends. Padfoot says the same – he's really going squirrelly stuck at home these days. He really hopes you're giving old Dolores what-for, and has been talking at length about his thoughts on pranks you and the Weasley twins could pull on her. I won't encourage him by passing his thoughts along, but I'm sure you can imagine some of his suggestions._

_Padfoot also told me to ask how things are going with Luna. His eyes were gleaming as he said this, but he wouldn't go into any details. Am I correct in assuming he was referring to Luna Lovegood, Ravenclaw, a year below you? She's the only one I remember with that name. If so, give my best to the girl – I remember her as a bright and enthusiastic student. If he's just having me on, or if his 'house-arrest' is causing him delusions, ignore the whole thing._

_Remus_

As he finished reading, he heard a far-away voice ask, "Who's Padfoot?" Harry realized he had been so into reading Remus' letter that he hadn't noticed his companion return.

When he looked up at her, she said, "I can read upside down. It's a useful skill, and sometimes can you get a new mental perspective on things if you do. Look at things from a different physical perspective, that is. Plus, it confuses the kelwedges somewhat, so you won't forget what you just read."

"Kelwedges?"

Luna took on the indulgent tone she so often did when explaining one of her creatures. "They're like Wrackspurts, expect instead of fuzzying your thinking, they interfere with reading comprehension. They like to infest libraries, for obvious reasons."

Harry smiled. "So that's why you were reading _The Quibbler_ upside down when we first met."

"No, it was just due to the rune article I was reading. But yes, sometimes that's why I read upside down." She leaned in towards him, and whispered, "But sometimes I do it just to confuse people."

He chuckled with her at that.

"Anyway, I hope you're not upset I looked at the letter, but I was curious when I saw my name."

"No, I'm not upset at all." He paused as a waitress brought a tray of little finger sandwiches for them. He poured Luna a cup of tea ("no cream or honey – I don't want to hide the tea's inherent flavour" she had said), and a cup with a generous dollop of honey for himself, and bit into a cucumber sandwich. Luna tried an egg-salad one and smiled in appreciation of the taste.

Harry leaned in closely to her and whispered. "Padfoot is my godfather. Sirius Black. He and Remus Lupin were friends of my father when they were all at Hogwarts. That was his nickname. Sirius is innocent, by the way. He was framed by Peter Pettigrew and the Ministry bought it."

Luna whispered back, "Oh, I know Sirius is innocent. _The Quibbler_ had a story about it in the summer. It must be fun having a rock star as a godfather."

It took Harry a moment to realise what Luna meant. She was referring to a story that claimed Sirius Black was really Stubby Boardman, lead singer of The Hobgoblins. He shook his head at Luna, "That story was wrong, Luna. I know Sirius, and he's not Stubby Boardman. I've certainly never seen him play the guitar."

"People keep secrets, Harry. Even from their loved ones."

"No, I'm certain _The Quibbler_ was wrong on this one. It's sources must be incorrect," he said, trying to soften the blow.

"It happens sometimes," she said agreeably. "So you told your godfather about me?"

Harry felt red under the collar. "Over Christmas. I told him about the mistletoe, and about what you're like."

She blushed again. "Good things, I hope," she said shyly.

He took her hands in his once again. "Of course. He thought I should spend some time with you. He thinks I don't take enough time to have fun."

"He's right, you know, on both counts," she said playfully. "I understand it's hard to have fun these days with Professor Umbridge and _The Daily Prophet_ and being banned from Quidditch and everything, but you do need to have fun, Harry, if for no other reason than to keep the Wrackspurts away."

"Well, I'm having fun today."

"Me too. I told Daddy a little about you as well, when I was making the cork charm for you over Christmas. What you're really like, beyond all the 'Boy-Who-Lived' stuff. I didn't tell him about the mistletoe, though," she added.

"Good. I wouldn't want him coming after me," he said seriously.

"Oh, I don't think he'd do that. Not unless you hurt me," she said just as seriously.

Harry changed the subject after that to talking about Charms. The compared notes on the class, on the various charm spells they had used on the various gifts they had given one another. They also spoke about Professor Flitwick, who both thought very highly of. Luna didn't know that he had been a champion duellist when he was younger, and commented that it was a shame they couldn't enlist him to help out with the D.A. meetings. While they were chatting about this, they finished off the sandwiches, and Harry ordered an assortment of the little cakes that Lavender had recommended.

Luna's roommate Deirdre Cholmondeley strolled up to the table, a fourth-year Hufflepuff boy in tow. Luna pointed avoided looking at the boy. "Hi Loony," she said mockingly. "Hi Harry. Enjoying your tea and love potions?" She laughed and walked away to the counter, with the Hufflepuff not meeting either Harry's eyes or Luna's as he passed.

Harry looked at Luna, who had her serene smile on her face during the exchange with Deirdre. But Harry had come to know Luna's expressions over the last number of weeks, and he saw that her smile didn't reach her grey eyes, which were ever so slightly mistier than normal. "Luna? You know I don't believe that stuff, right?"

"I know _you_ don't, Harry. I do worry that your friends and housemates would believe it if they hear it enough, though. That I'm the kind of girl who would slip a boy a love potion. And that they'll try to convince you not to spend time with me anymore because of things like that. Or any other stupid rumours they heard." She spoke so softly she was barely audible to Harry, who had to lean very close to her across the table to hear her.

They were interrupted by their waitress bringing them the tray of cakes. Luna ate a lemon square and focused her eyes on the tray while Harry ran his hand through his hair and collected his thoughts.

He waited for Luna to finish the lemon cake, took her hands is his, leaned towards her, and began speaking quietly. "I really like you, Luna. You've probably figured that out – I'm not exactly a subtle Slytherin – but I want to make certain you know. I've had more fun just hanging out with you and talking and stuff these last weeks than I have in a long time. I like that you're smart, and quirky, and that you're always surprising me, and I like that you treat me like just plain Harry rather than some hero because of something I supposedly did as a baby."

Her serene smile turned into a wide sincere one as he spoke, and she softly answered him. "Oh, Harry, I do know that. At least I hoped I knew that. Or I knew I hoped that. It's very nice to hear, though. I just worry – I've never had anyone treat me like you do, but I worry you'll change your mind, and stop wanting to be around me. The rumours don't help."

"I'm not going to stop wanting to be around you just because some stupid busybodies think you've been slipping me love potions, or that you're blackmailing me with compromising photos, Luna. I don't care what other people say. I only care what you say."

Her eyes widened. "You've heard I'm _blackmailing_ you?"

He nodded. "Dean Thomas told me he heard that one. I don't think he believed it. Apparently the story is your dad has some pics of me at the tournament last year that are so embarrassing I'd agree to take you to Hogsmeade rather than have them leaked."

"I haven't heard that one. I'll have to ask Daddy to see them," she said playfully.

He smiled at her. "You'll have to tell me what you find. And I hope you don't want to stop being around me because of rumours that you're the first notch on my evil half-blood scheme of seduction, or that this is some elaborate prank I've worked up with George and Fred."

"I wouldn't do that, Harry, although I hadn't heard the prank one. It sounds like my worst fears, though," she said very quietly, and then looked to Harry like she regretted saying it.

"That's not true either, Luna. I would never do that."

"I know. It's happened before, though. I don't think _you_ would ever think of doing something like that to anyone..."

He held her hands tightly. "I wouldn't, and I certainly wouldn't to you." He smiled warmly at her. "I meant what I said. I really like you."

"I really like you too, Harry. I've never had as much fun as I have with you – you're kind, and brave, and loyal, and you really listen to me. I like that you don't mind being seen holding hands in public with the school loon." She smiled warmly at him. "And you're coming around on Nargles, I can tell."

When he saw that smile on her face, and upon her mentioning of Nargles, he impulsively leaned the short distance over to her and kissed her on the lips. Her eyes widened momentarily, making them look like huge silver Sickles on her pale face. She then melted into the kiss, closing her eyes, which prompted Harry to do the same. He lost himself in the sensation of her lips, as wonderful as their Christmas kiss over a month ago had been. Her lips tasted like the candy-floss they shared the colour of. They moved their lips together for a few minutes, and he felt her tongue emerge from her lips and brush his. But before he could respond in kind, she pulled back, still holding his hands, looked at him wide-eyed, and sighed in contentment.

"Wow," he said.

"That was wonderful, Harry. Have you been practising?" she asked playfully.

"What? No! I haven't kissed anyone else since the last time."

She smiled. "Good. I didn't think so, but I had to ask. This one was different than the last one. Maybe you're more at ease now that there's no threat of Nargles. The one at Christmas was lovely, but this one was..." She grasped for the right word.

"Indescribable," he said.

"Yes, that describes it exactly!" she said with a laugh.

He looked around. Given the romantic tension at the other tables in the tea shoppe, he wasn't surprised to find no one watching him. The anonymity in the midst of people, even after kissing his date intensely, was surprising and welcome.

"Lavender was right about this place," he said.

"Yes, I'll have to thank her. We really should finish these cakes, though. I hate to let sweets go to waste."

"O.K. They can't be as sweet as you, though." He then chuckled and shook his head. "Er, I'm sorry. That came out really corny."

"Yes," she said dreamily, "it really was terribly cheesy. It was sweet all the same, though."

As they ate the delicious little cakes, Harry looked at Luna again, and saw that her lips had darkened from pink to a soft strawberry red.

"Um, did I do that?" he asked, pointing to her lips.

"Do what?"

"Your lips. They're red now instead of pink." He leaned in, and with concern in his voice, asked, "Was I rough kissing you? Did I hurt your lips? I'm so sorry if I did..."

She blushed far redder than he had ever seen her blush, and said, "No, you were wonderful. It's Ginny's lipstick. I borrowed it from her. It's charmed to change colour based on the mood of the wearer. And her desire..."

His eyes went wide at that. They ate some more little cakes in silence, stealing glances at one another.

After the cakes were done, Harry looked back at Luna. Her lips were still strawberry red.

"Does the lipstick just change colour?" he asked

"Pardon?"

"Is it just colour that changes, or taste as well?" Luna's eyes widened as he asked. "Your lips were coloured like candyfloss, and that's what they tasted like. Now they have the colour of strawberries..."

Luna thought about that intently. "I don't know, Ginny didn't mention anything about it." She was silent for a few seconds, and then said, "Let's find out," and took a surprised Harry's face in her hands, leaned in and kissed him again. It was like the previous one, but better, as far as Harry was concerned. This time, after a minute or so, he tentatively brushed her lips, with his tongue, and briefly made contact with hers when it emerged slightly, until she withdrew from the kiss again, that contented look on her face once more.

"So?" she said.

"Even more indescribable," he said with a smile.

She laughed. "I meant, did the taste change?"

"Yeah, I'd have to say it a little like strawberries."

"I can see why Ginny likes this lipstick," she said. "I may have to get some of my own."

"That'd be cool," he said. Then, nervously, "Not that kissing you wouldn't be fun without it, I mean..."

"I know what you meant," she said indulgently, and patted his arm.

The finished off the last of the tea, and put on their jackets. He pointed at her sweater as she zipped up. "I thought that would be purple."

She tilted her head. "Why is that, Harry?"

"You're wearing every other colour of the rainbow, but not purple. So I figured your sweater would be."

Harry was surprised to see Luna turn even redder than she had been just a minute ago. "You're blushing! Why?" he asked.

Luna looked nonplussed, and cast her eyes down at the table. "It must be the Nargles. Yes, it must. They're making my face heat up," she said quickly.

He leaned in, and whispered teasingly, "I didn't think Nargles did that. And you're wearing your necklace, and I have my charm. They shouldn't be coming within a couple of yards of us, right?"

She didn't say anything, but stayed beet-red and kept her eyes focused on the table. "You're teasing me, Harry Potter," she said in an accusing-but-pleased manner.

He laughed. "Yes, yes I am."

"Naughty boy," she said.

They left the table and Harry settled the bill. As they left the tea shop, they ran into Ginny Weasley and Michael Corner who were about to head it.

Ginny greeted them both warmly, and Michael nodded at them both, saying, "Harry. Loony." Harry's eyes narrowed slightly, and took Luna's hand in his, intertwining his fingers with hers. Ginny hit her date's arm and said, "Michael!" reproachfully.

"What? I'll go in and get us a table," he said, and entered the shoppe.

"Sorry about him," she said to Luna. "He's a good guy, but insensitive. So," she asked brightly, "how are you two enjoying yourselves?"

"We're having a lot of fun," Harry said. "Right, Luna?"

The blonde nodded, and Ginny laughed. "I'll bet," the redhead said, winking at Luna. "Your lips are _soooo_ red," she whispered at Luna. "Enjoying the lipstick?"

"Yes, it's very nice, thank you," Luna answered. "You didn't tell me about it's other properties, though."

Ginny giggled. "You've figured it out, eh? I thought that might be more fun for you than me just telling you about it. Well, I shouldn't keep Michael waiting. Have fun, you two," she said, winking at them and entering Madam Puddifoot's.

"This has been a lovely date, Harry," Luna said as they entered the High Street.

"Well, it's still only half past noon," he said. "What would you like to do next?"

* * *

_(Author's Note: I'm going to end this chapter here, as this was going to be an obscenely long chapter otherwise. The next chapter will have the rest of Hogsmeade trip, and then there will likely be one more chapter, during which I will wrap up this story. I'm going to continue the narrative in a sequel, as there will be somewhat of a mood change._

_Thank you to everyone who has been reading this, and thank you to everyone who has reviewed this. Any and all feedback is welcome and appreciated.)_


	8. Butterbeer

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers apply. The proper people have the proper rights over the proper things, and I do not, which is also proper.

Protection From Nargles

Part 8 - Butterbeer

_January, 1996._

Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood walked down the High Street in Hogsmeade, their fingers interlaced with one another's. The sun was bright and just past its zenith, and the air was crisp and still – the perfect January weather for a day in the village. Harry was smiling, and Luna was humming the tune her mother used to whistle when Luna was child. It had been a near perfect day for the two students, marred only by hearing about the succession of increasingly bizarre rumours that had spread among the student body of Hogwarts about why the two of them were on this date. Fortunately, while neither of them were happy about the rumours, Harry was used to the dark side of fame, and Luna was generally unfazed by the mutterings of her fellow students.

Neither of them were going to let the whispers of others wreck their date.

They decided that their next stop should be Honeydukes, to stock up on sweets for the next month. Just before they entered the candy shop, they ran into a large dark-haired girl in a Slytherin scarf – Millicent Bulstrode. She fixed Harry with a look of disdain and greeted them. "Potter. Luna." She then looked pointedly at the couple's intertwined hands.

"Millicent," Harry said, just a coolly as she had greeted him.

"Hello, Millie," Luna said cheerfully. "Please thank your mother for the box of chocolates at Christmas. They were very nice, although I'm afraid Daddy ate too many at once. His stomach was quite upset for a few hours."

Millicent let out a snort at that, but said, "I will. And thank your father for us for the bottle of mead. My parents actually let me have some this year." She then paused for a moment, and said, "So the rumours are true, I see."

Harry rolled his eyes, and asked, "Which rumour did you hear?"

"You really must be thick, Potter," Millicent said disdainfully. "That you two are on a date. I assume that's what _that_" she pointed to their interlaced fingers "is about. Unless one of those idiot Weasley twins used a sticking charm on you, and you haven't figured out how to dispel it," she smirked.

"No, we're on a date," Luna said cheerfully. "It's been quite lovely."

"I'm sure," Millicent said sarcastically. "I also heard one of the little fourth-years saying something about Potter here being some kind of Lothario, but _really_. That he managed to get one girl to look at him is a miracle of sorts." She smiled an evil smirk at Harry while she said this.

"Oh no, Harry's not like that," Luna answered seriously. "He's been a perfect gentleman today."

That got another snort from Millicent.

Harry had enough of this, and said, "Well, this has been just wonderful, Millicent, but let's go get some chocolates, shall we Luna?"

"O.K.," she said, as Harry led her into the store. She turned around and smiled serenely at the Slytherin girl. "Bye, Millie!"

Honeydukes was full of students, and Harry and Luna moved slowly around the store looking at the merchandise. "Are you and Millicent friends, or something?"

"Oh no, she doesn't like me much," Luna said cheerfully.

"What was all that, then?"

"Mummy and Millie's mother were neighbours growing up in Diagon Alley. Millie's grandfather ran the _Diagon Alley Diviner_ before it went under. It was a daily newspaper," she clarified, seeing Harry's questioning look, "run out of the same building where Mummy's father ran _The Quibbler_. The _Diviner_ and _The Quibbler_ shared printing presses. Mummy and Millie's mum weren't exactly friends – Millie's mum was a few years older than mine – but they always exchanged Christmas gifts, and were friendly enough with each other. Millie and her family came to Mummy's funeral, and were very proper and mournful. Daddy still exchanges Christmas gifts with them. I thought Millie might want to be my friend when I came to Hogwarts, but I was wrong," Luna said sadly.

"What did she do?" he asked quietly.

"Oh, nothing too bad. She just told me that _Slytherins_ didn't hang out with silly little Ravenclaws. All her friends laughed at me as she said that, but that was it."

"I'm sorry about that," he said sincerely.

"Thank you, but you don't need to be. It was practically nice compared to how some people treated me. Anyway, Millie at least doesn't call me 'Loony' to my face, and doesn't pull pranks on me, even if she does laugh when her friends do."

"Huh," Harry said. He didn't like Millicent Bulstrode – she struck him as almost as unpleasant as Pansy Parkinson – but that gave him something to think about.

Harry and Luna looked around the shop, taking in all the sights and smells of the candy on sale. Harry watched with amusement as Luna's eyes went even wider than normal as she looked at all the choices around her. _Just like the cliché_, he thought with a smile.

"Do you know what kind of sweets Dobby likes?" she asked suddenly.

"Er, no I don't," he answered, somewhat surprised. "Were you thinking of getting him something?"

"Yes, he found my winter clothing for me. Daddy sent me some more in the owl post, but it was still very nice of Dobby. I want to show him I appreciate his help. I don't think many students ever think about the House Elves," she said sadly.

Harry smiled at Luna. "Hermione would hug you right now if she were here. Did you know about S.P.E.W.?"

"Ginny told me about it. I think Hermione's heart was in the right place, but she should have focused more upon making sure they were well treated. Most elves aren't like Dobby – they don't want to be free. I think they all want to be appreciated, though, the same as anybody else."

Harry squeezed her hand. "I told you that Dobby was going to love you." He thought about what Dobby might like. "He idolizes the Headmaster. Maybe get him some lemon drops. If you tell him they're just like Dumbledore likes, he'll love them even more."

Luna thought this was an excellent idea, and picked up a package for the elf. She also picked up two sugar quills, three licorice wands, and a few chocolate frogs. She brought these back to Harry, who was loading up him arms with a large assortment of confections. "Is that all you're getting?" he asked.

She nodded. "I don't have a lot of money to spend on sweets. And Daddy reminded me that too many chocolates at once can attract the Rimesprites, and they're ever so hard to get rid of."

Harry decided to leave the issue of what exactly Rimesprites were for the moment. "That won't last you very long at all. Do you want me to get you some Chocolate Cauldrons or something?"

"No, you don't need to do that."

"O.K. Well, when you run out of candy, I'll have lots to share with you. That will give you an excuse to see me back at school."

She smiled and squeezed his hand. "I don't need an excuse. Other than trying to keep you Wrackspurt-free, and _that_ would be a full-time job, you know."

He laughed heartily at that comment, and they paid for their sweets, had them shrank, and stored them in Luna's white canvas bag. They kept a few of Harry's Chocolate Cauldrons out to share as they went back out into the village.

Luna said she wanted to look around the Hogsmeade branch of Magical Menagerie, to see what kind of pets they had for sale. As Harry already had Hedwig, they agreed he would write to Remus Lupin while Luna looked at all the animals.

On the way they passed a florist's shop, and Harry took Luna inside. After speaking with the florist, he purchased a violet, and placed it in Luna's hair above her right ear. "There's some purple for you," he said softly to her, which caused her to blush intensely once more.

"Thank you," she said, smiling at him.

After a moment looking into each other's eyes, they heard a throat clearing, and saw Neville Longbottom grinning at them.

"Hey, Harry, Luna," he said cheerfully.

They both greeted him equally happily. "Buying flowers for anyone, Neville?" Harry asked with a grin.

Neville stammered a bit, and responded, "No, just taking a scholarly interest in the plants they have for sale. Like that violet in your hair, Luna. _Viola labradorica_, right?"

Luna shrugged. "I don't know which kind of violet it is. I just know it's pretty. Harry bought it for me. He thought I needed some more purple on me," she said. Harry squeezed her hand gently at her use of the word "more". She lifted her right leg, and pointed to the charmed anklet Harry had made for her. "He also made me this charm for me. It keeps my feet warm."

"Cool," Neville said admiringly. "_Lilium bulbiferum_?"

"If that means 'fire lily', then yeah," Harry said.

"You'll never get an 'O' in Herbology that way, Harry," the blond boy said with a smile. "Are you guys having fun?"

Harry and Luna said "yes" simultaneously, and laughed. "Harry took me to Madame Pudifoot's. It's very nice – Lavender Brown recommended it to us. Have you ever been there?" Luna asked. Neville shook his head. "Well, you should go. Their cakes are very nice, although I don't know if you'd want to go on your own – we didn't see anyone there by themselves. Unless they were under a Disillusionment Charm, but I suspect it would be very hard to get a waitress to serve you in that case."

Neville and Harry both grinned at Luna.

Neville leaned into the duo. "Have you heard the rumour going around about you two?"

Harry groaned. "Which one?"

"There's more than one?"

"Unfortunately," Harry said. "Which one did you hear? Love potions? My evil rakish ways?"

"No, neither of those. I heard one of the Hufflepuff sixth-years say that there was an outstanding marriage contract from the eighteenth century between the Potter and Lovegood families, and your dad" he pointed to Luna "called it in. He said you'll be married right after the end of term."

"We'll only be fifteen!" Harry groaned. "Who comes up with this stuff?"

"He said you're getting some special dispensation from the Ministry because you're the Boy-Who-Lived. I didn't believe a word of it, of course, but I thought you should know what's going around."

"It never ends," Harry muttered. "Thanks, Neville. You're going to the Three Broomsticks later?"

"Yeah, I owe Ron some butterbeers. I have to stop making chess bets with him."

Harry laughed, and he and Luna said goodbye to Neville and left the florist's.

"I'm sorry you have to put up with goofy rumours like that," Harry told her.

"You do seem to attract them, Harry. But I don't mind – at least they're amusing. Although I don't think the Ministry would be giving you any special dispensations these days."

"No, I wouldn't think so. And what's with that 'marriage contract' stuff?"

"Oh, it's rare, but it still sometimes happens," she said seriously. "They're not really legally enforceable – you can't force your kids to marry - but families still make them sometimes. In the really traditional pureblood families, the children usually feel they have to honour them, no matter what their true feelings on the matter are."

"That's absurd!" he said. "People really still do that? Get married due to a contract?"

She nodded. "Very rarely. I hear Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson have had one since birth, but that may be just as false as the rumour Neville just told us."

"Poor Pansy. Hell, poor Malfoy! Having no say in who you're married to. At least they seem to like each other. Assuming that's even true, of course."

"Yes, it could be a lot worse for them."

Harry nodded grimly. "Imagine having to marry someone you hated. I couldn't bear it."

"That's what love potions were originally made for," Luna explained. "It would be a ritual for the bride and groom of a contract marriage to brew love potions for each other, and exchange them before the wedding, to make everything easier on the new couple. Ideally by the time the potions wore off, they would be at least comfortable with one another. If not, hopefully there was at least an heir on the way. That's really the only reason they haven't been banned – pureblood tradition. Of course, Minister Fudge may want to keep them legal for more nefarious purposes, but I don't like to think about that," she said in her trademark inappropriately cheery way.

Harry shuddered. "I _really_ don't want to think about how Fudge uses love potions. Hopefully it has nothing to do with the Heliopaths."

Luna laughed all the way to the Magical Menagerie.

As she went in to look at all the animals, Harry sat on a nearby bench, pulled out his parchment, quill and ink, and began to write quickly.

_Dear Mr. Lovegood,_

_My name is Harry Potter. I am a friend of your daughter's, and have bought her a birthday gift – _Rare Arcane Faunae of Western Europe_, by your relative Livia Lovegood. I'm hoping to keep it a surprise until then. She said she might contact you to see if you could get it for her, so I hope if she does, you can tell her that it's been sold already. I would really appreciate if you did – I know she'll love the surprise. She was really taken with it at the bookstore._

_I also want to thank you for your support during my troubles with the Ministry. I really appreciate that not everyone believes the Fudge-Prophet line on me, and on the recent return of Lord V._

_Yours truly,_

_Harry Potter_

He folded the letter to Luna's father, and began a second letter.

_Dear Remus,_

_Thanks for the note. I'll pass on your greetings, and Tonks' as well._

_Tell Padfoot I miss him and his letters, but Umbridge isn't letting anything remotely suspicious get through to me. She's horrible, but we're all surviving her. So far._

_You can also tell Padfoot that things are going really well with Luna (yes, she is Luna Lovegood), and we're currently on a date in Hogsmeade. I'll tell him more when I see him next, but she's really great and we're having a lot of fun._

_Harry_

Folding the second, he went into the Magical Menagerie to find Luna. She was in front of the cats and Kneazles, feeding them treats and rubbing their bellies. "I love animals," she said without looking up at Harry as he approached her from behind. "Daddy's allergic, though. Cats just make him sneeze violently, but Kneazle hair makes him break out in blue hives. It's really painful and itchy for him, and it looks horrible. So I always try and come here during the school year." She then spoke softly to the felines, and held some string toys above them and watched the cats and Kneazles bat and grab at them. She was grinning all through this.

"Is he allergic to any other animals?" he asked.

"Not that we know of," she said in her sing-song voice. "But I do sometimes wonder if the reason we've never found any Crumple-Horned Snorkacks when we look for them is that he might be allergic to them. Snorkacks are very skittish, you know, and very smart. If they sense he'd sneeze around them, they might avoid him."

Harry smiled at Luna's theory. "Maybe you'll need to look for them on your own someday."

"I've thought about that. I might, but I don't think going on an expedition on my own would be very fun. Part of the fun of discovery would be having someone to share it with." She paused for a moment to rub the belly of one of the Kneazles, and then asked, "You're not allergic to any animals, are you Harry?"

He grinned. "No allergies at all."

She turned to him and smiled widely. "Good."

* * *

After Magical Menagerie, they wandered around the village together for a while, sharing stories about their classes and talking about their classmates. Harry told Luna what the Gryffindor dorms were like, and how he liked to spend his evenings in the common room sitting and chatting with Ron and Hermione, or studying with them when Hermione wouldn't let him avoid it any longer, or playing chess and other games with his dorm-mates. Luna's experiences in the Ravenclaw dorms was rather different from Harry's ones in Gryffindor. While there were study groups in Ravenclaw, her roommates Deirdre and Melanie had made it quite clear that they didn't want Luna to study with them and Morgana Dempster. The boys' study group in their year was no more welcoming to her, so she spent most of her time either out of the common room altogether, or studying on her own. She was certainly never invited to play games with anyone. While she and her dad played chess regularly during the summers, and Luna thought she was quite good, she never had anyone to test herself against.

"So you've never played chess in Hogwarts at all?" he asked incredulously.

She shook her head. "None of my roommates play it, and while some the boys in my year do, none of them would want to play against me."

"That's not fair!" Harry said.

"No, but it's understandable. Philip Yell – he's in my year – asked if I wanted to join in a game of exploding snap with him and the other boys back in my second year, and he got taunted with 'You love Loony!' for a month afterwards. None of the others wants to have that happen to them, so I don't get asked," she said calmly.

Harry took her into his arms and gave her a fierce hug. "You can always play chess with me, although I'm not very good at it." He held her in his arms for a minute or so, and took the opportunity to breathe deeply the scent of her hair – vanilla, lilacs and essence of Luna, as always. "What did Philip do?"

"He didn't talk to me after that. I haven't actually spoken a word with him in two years. He doesn't stand up to peer pressure well. He's no Gryffindor," she said and hugged him tighter.

Harry pulled back a little, looked into her eyes and said softly, "It's not just Gryffindors who are brave, Luna."

"Oh, I know that, but it's what you're known for," Luna said cheerfully. "I often wonder what would have happened if I had been sorted into Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw. The Sorting Hat considered that, you know, on my first day. We had a nice long chat about where I would be happiest. The Hat also suggested Hufflepuff, too, but figured that as I was used to being alone, I wouldn't have the need for close friends that makes some people become Hufflepuffs. So we went back and forth, talking about Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, but I said I wanted to be in the house where Mummy was so happy, so it sent me to Ravenclaw. The whole process took about six minutes. Everyone else was very upset with me for taking so long, but I didn't really care. I don't get to talk to hats very often, you see, and we were having quite a nice conversation," she said dreamily, causing Harry to laugh.

They broke the hug, and continued wandering, in the direction of the Post Office. "The Hat wanted to put me in Slytherin," he said.

Luna considered that for a moment. "I could see that."

"Oh?"

"Well, you're full of ambition, and I bet you could be very cunning. You're speech on Monday about Patronuses is a good example of that," she said.

"I don't think I'm very ambitious," he said sceptically.

"Not all ambition is dark, Harry. You want to change the world, and make it a better place, and you're willing to do things indirectly. You would have made an interesting Slytherin."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Really?"

"Oh yes. I'm glad you're a Gryffindor, though. I already have the Quidditch hat, and a snake hat wouldn't look as good on me, I don't think."

Harry laughed yet again, as they reached the Post Office. He once again left Luna outside while he went in and posted the letters to Remus and Mr. Lovegood.

When he emerged from the Post Office, Luna was alone, looking up at the thin clouds in the sky and singing softly to herself. "What are you singing?" Harry asked.

"I honestly don't know," she answered. "I'm just making it up as I go along. That way I'm always surprised."

He dug out a Chocolate Wand for each of them and handed one to Luna as they continued their walk around Hogsmeade.

"You like how my hair smells," she said out of the blue to him after finishing her Chocolate Wand.

"What?" he said, blushing.

"I noticed that whenever we hug, you sniff my hair. You've done so ever since we had pudding that night. So either you like it or you don't, and seeing as you don't avoid hugging me, you must like how it smells. Do you, Harry?" she asked looking at him wide-eyed and seemingly guilelessly.

Harry stammered for a little bit, and then looked directly at her, and admitted, "Yes. I do. It always smells great. I like your hair a lot."

She smiled. "Good. I thought so."

He took her hand in his. "You really like putting me on the spot," he said accusingly.

"Now why would I ever want to do that?" she asked innocently, as she pulled the violet out of her hair and sniffed it deeply, while looking at him with a very pointed yet smiling expression on her face.

He smiled happily back at her, while wondering not for the first time what he had truly got himself into with Luna. He watched her twirl the violet in her hand for a little while before putting it back into her hair, as she squeezed his hand with her other hand, and hummed happily all the while.

* * *

Nighttime in Scotland falls early in late January, and Luna suggested that they do some ice skating while the sun still shone, however weakly. Harry was apprehensive about this, as he had never skated before; the Dursleys certainly weren't about to buy him ice skates, and as Ron wasn't a skater, Harry hadn't done it on previous Hogsmeade trips. He hadn't even been aware that there was a skating pond in the village until Luna had excitedly suggested they go.

So Harry found himself standing on a frozen pond, lifting up his feet one at a time so Luna could transfigure his boots into ice skates before transfiguring her own. She showed Harry the basics of skating - how to keep his balance, how to propel himself forward, how to turn, and how to stop, although that last one remained largely theoretical for Harry. Luna herself was quite capable on skates, if not exactly graceful, and skated literal circles around Harry and he tried to achieve a basic competency on the blades. She was laughing gleefully as she moved around the frozen pond, which more than made up for Harry's lack of skill as far as he was concerned.

Eventually Luna took pity on Harry, took his hand in hers, and led him as they skated around the pond. This was much more enjoyable for the two of them, as while Luna wasn't a free to move around randomly on her own, she was able to stabilize and guide Harry around the pond. After a few minutes, he began to gain proficiency at skating, and the two began to move faster around the pond. Harry found that he enjoyed the freedom of the ice, and the feel of the wind on his face as he and Luna skated together. They waved happily at the other skaters, smiled with joy at one another going around the rink.

And then it all came literally crashing down with the word "_Finite_", as the blades on Luna's boots were dispelled by a smirking Pansy Parkinson. Luna's forward momentum took her down face-first onto the ice, and she inadvertently pulled Harry down onto her, knocking the wind out of the young blonde.

"Ha! I didn't think that would work," said the dark-haired Slytherin girl triumphantly to Draco Malfoy, who was standing next to her.

"Look, Pansy, the liar and the loony, face down in the snow!" said Draco, smirking at the duo.

"Shut it, git," said Harry as he got off of Luna and helped her up off the ice as she tried to catch her breath. "What the hell, Parkinson? Why did you do that?"

Pansy laughed cruelly. "I wanted to try a new spell, Potty, and who better to try it on than the school freak?"

Harry got angry at the use of that hateful word that his relatives had called him all his life. As he reached inside his jacket for his wand, he loudly said to Pansy, "Don't you _dare_ call Luna that, you evil, pug-faced little..."

"Ah-ah-ah," said Draco warningly, his wand pointed directly at Harry's head. "Manners, Potter. Don't talk to the lady that way."

Harry snorted. "_Lady_. Huh. If I see one here other than Luna, I'll be more polite, Malfoy, you..."

Luna grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "Harry, no," she said calmly.

"I'd listen to your crazy girlfriend if I were you, Scarhead," said Draco, smirking even more than before.

"She's not crazy," Harry said evenly, glancing at Luna as her eyes widened at him.

"I'm sure that's what the voices in Loony's head tell her," said Pansy.

Before Harry could respond, he noticed a large blur out of the corner of his eye coming at him. Without any time to react, the blur impacted him, knocking him down onto his backside, with Luna falling on him this time.

"Ha! That never gets old," said a smirking Vincent Crabbe to Gregory Goyle, who had skated up beside his friend. Crabbe wore skates as well, unlike Draco and Pansy.

"You should be careful, Potter. You and Loony don't seem to be able to stay on your feet," said Draco.

"Maybe one of Loony's imaginary animals is affecting her balance," replied Pansy, causing the four Slytherins to laugh evilly.

"Oh, nothing's affecting my balance, Pansy," said Luna dreamily. "The Grimbleflies do that, of course, but they always migrate south for the winter. If we were in Sardinia, they might be bothering us now, but then we wouldn't be on skates, now would we?"

Draco shook his head. "You know, Potter, I can't decide whether you're finally showing some intelligence by ditching the filthy Mudblood and trying to get together with a pureblood girl, or whether you're a complete and utter _twit_ for choosing the weirdest and ugliest of the lot. Hmmm," he said, pretending to ponder. "I think I'll go with '_twit_'."

"Go to hell, Malfoy, and apologize to Luna," Harry said levelly, pointing his wand at Malfoy.

At that, Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Luna all drew their wands and aimed them at each other.

"Watch yourself, Potter," Draco said threateningly. "We could hex you and your idiotic little play-toy here, and tell our High Inquisitor you started it. Who's she going to believe, I wonder? Two prefects and two reliable witnesses, or some attention-seeking prat who lies to the press, and the lunatic daughter of a nutty tabloid owner?"

"I could get a couple of good hexes off at you and your hag before you could say '_boo_', ferret," responded Harry coolly.

Draco tried to put up a brave front. "Try it, and we'll make you and the freak here pay."

Luna, who was still sitting on Harry's lap where she landed, patted him with her wand-free hand, and said, "Please don't, Harry."

Grinning, Draco said, "I told you you should listen to your crazy girlfriend, Potter."

Luna looked at Draco appraisingly. "It must be difficult for you, Draco."

"What?"

"I mean, with your father being a Death Eater, You-Know-Who probably spends a lot of time at your home. He's probably a terrible houseguest, I would imagine, casting curses and leaving dirty laundry everywhere. I can see why you're angry all the time. Can't you, Harry?"

Harry grinned. Times like this were when he appreciated Luna the most, when she would leave others completely nonplussed with her statements. "Oh, I agree, Luna. Malfoy's daddy probably gave _Voldemort_" (he emphasised the name to the gasps and shudders of the four Slytherins) "his bedroom. Malfoy's probably upset that _Voldemort_" (more shudders) "is leaving his scales in Malfoy's bed, and cuddling his little plush snakes at night."

Draco was fuming. "Watch your mouth, Potter. One of these days, the Dark Lord will make you pay for what you say. You and _this_ nutcase."

"Oooooo, _Voldemort_" (yet more shudders) "is coming after me. Big news flash, Malfoy. Of course he is, git, whatever I say to you. He has been since I was one year old. Of course, he'll come for me after he _Crucio_s your Death Eater daddy to insanity for not letting him use the good towels, right?"

Draco was sputtering now, and Pansy put a gentle arm on him and said, "Come on, Draco, I think you've humiliated the little twits enough. Let's go get some hot chocolate," and she began leading him away, his 'bodyguards' following him.

"You'll get yours, Potty, soon enough. You and Loony!" Draco shouted over his shoulder as he left.

Harry looked at Luna. "I'm sorry you had to be part of all that with those prats," he said, rubbing her shoulder with her hand. "Bad enough I have to deal with them, but..."

"That's all right, Harry," she said with a smile. "Although I think you may have been exaggerating there at the end." Seeing Harry's raised eyebrow, she went on, "I don't think Mr. Malfoy is foolish enough to not let He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named use the good towels."

Harry laughed heartily, threw his arms around Luna, and gave her a lingering kiss. "Mmmm... watermelon this time," he said as it ended. Seeing her smile, he said sincerely, "You are absolutely wonderful. You know that, right?"

She laughed lightly and sweetly. "Thank you, Harry. Comfortable as this is, though, we really should get up, shouldn't we?"

It was then that Harry became consciously aware that Luna was still sitting on his lap on the ice. It felt so natural, so right for him that he hadn't even been actively aware of it until now. It just felt how the universe _ought to be_, so much so that he hadn't even noticed his backside start to get cold from sitting on the snow and ice.

Of course, now that his body was paying attention to the fact that he had a pretty girl sitting on his lap with her arms around him, he was worried that it would begin to react of its own accord. Not wanting to have to deal with _that_ embarrassment, he said, "Er... yeah, we should get up and finish our skate now that those arses are gone." He awkwardly, and largely unsuccessfully, tried to help Luna up from his position underneath her, but eventually they were both on their feet again.

She retransfigured her boots into ice skates, and he took her hand in his again, and they began to skate hand-in-hand once more. "I hope this hasn't ruined skating for you," she said sincerely.

"Nah. Nothing those snakes can do could take anything away from skating with you."

After a few minutes skating together, she asked, "_You_ don't think I'm crazy, do you Harry?"

Remember something she said the first day they met, he smiled broadly at her, and said, "Of course not, Luna. You're just as sane as I am."

Her resulting laugh probably wasn't _actually_ musical, but Harry didn't really notice.

* * *

After an event-free finish to their skating, they detransfigured their skates and followed Pansy Parkinson's example and got some hot chocolate, which they drank on the way to the Three Broomsticks. The sun had almost completely set by this point, and other than the spectacular sunset in the west, the sky was getting dark.

As they entered the pub, they were greeted by a smiling Madam Rosmerta, who without even asking directed Luna and Harry to a long table where Ron and Neville were engaged in a game of chess with one of the bar sets, and Hermione was sitting with them, doing her best trying not to look bored. Her eyes lit up seeing Harry and Luna. "Finally! Maybe I'll get some conversation around here other than 'knight to king's bishop three'."

"Oh hush, 'Mione. I have Neville on the ropes here, and when I win, I'll have him buy _you_ the butterbeer this time," Ron said, not looking up from the game.

"I didn't think we were betting this time," Neville said with a frown.

"Of course we are. You want Hermione to die of thirst?" Ron said with a grin.

Hermione rolled her eyes at her friend.

"What'll you have, dears?" Madam Rosmerta asked Harry and Luna with a smile as the two teen sat next to one another on the bench opposite Hermione.

Harry and Luna each ordered a butterbeer, and Luna asked the pub's proprietress to bring her the corks from the bottles. "Souvenirs, you see," she said at Hermione's questioning look. "I have to get the corks from my charms from somewhere, you know. The one from my necklace is from a trip I took to Cannes with Mummy and Daddy when I was eight, and the ones on Harry's charm are from when we were all at the Hog's Head for the meeting that one time," she said, referring to the organizing meeting of Dumbledore's Army in the fall.

"I didn't know that," Harry said, impressed. "You kept them from that meeting!"

"It was important to me, " she said simply. "Do you have it on you?"

Harry produced the charm from his pocket, to the amusement of the other three Gryffindors at the table. Seeing their grins, he muttered, "Oh, shut up," genially at them.

"If you look, Harry, you can see that those corks are from here in England, but mine is from the '_Beurre-brasserie de Cagnes-sur-Mer_'."

"Oh yeah," he said, leaning his head in to get a better look at Luna's necklace. "Cool."

"Is that from when your mother wanted you to go to Beauxbatons?" Hermione asked.

Luna nodded, to Harry's surprise. At his look, she said, "Mummy liked that they had a renowned art programme there."

He took her hand in his under the table. "I'm glad you went to Hogwarts instead," he said looking into her eyes.

"Me too," she said.

Looking at the two of them, Ron said teasing, "I bet you're picturing her in one of those Beauxbatons uniforms now, though, aren't you Harry?" As Harry reddened, Ron laughed. "I knew it!" Hermione punched Ron in the arm. "Must you keep doing that?"

"So long as you keep being a prat, I must," Hermione said back to him, in a more affectionate tone than the words would suggest.

"He's not denying it, though," Ron pointed out.

Luna merely squeezed Harry's hand, and looked into his eyes reassuringly.

Madam Rosmerta came back with their drinks, and gave the corks to Luna with a slight questioning look on her face.

After Luna and Harry enjoyed a few gulps of their drinks, Luna held up the corks in her hand and said to Hermione, "My offer still stands, Hermione. Are you sure you don't want a necklace?"

Ron turned to Hermione, and said in a sincere-sounding tone, "You should also ask Luna to make you a pair of her radish earrings, too. I can picture you in them _so easily_."

Ignoring Ron, Hermione turned back to the blonde girl, and said, "I think I'll stick with what I have now, but thank you for the offer."

"That's o.k.," Luna said, not really expecting a different answer from the brunette, but slightly disappointed all the same.

"Checkmate!" shouted Ron after a few minutes of silence. "You nearly had me there, Neville. But now you owe Hermione a drink!"

"You really don't, Neville," she said to him.

"I wouldn't want you to go without," Neville said with a slight smile, pointing at her empty mug, and signalling to Madam Rosmerta for two more butterbeers. "And I'd rather buy you one than yet another for Ron."

Ron laughed triumphantly, and said, "Another round, Neville?" When Neville shook his head, Ron asked, "Any other takers?"

When no one else answered, Luna spoke up. "I'll play you, Ronald."

Neville moved to sit next to Hermione, and Luna and Harry slid over so that Luna was facing Ron. "I didn't know you played," the red-haired boy said as he set up the board.

"I've only played Daddy."

"Well, I'll try to go easy on you," Ron said cockily. Harry caught the glint in Luna's eye, but said nothing and watched them play.

Ron opened the game in a restrained manner, and was caught off-guard by Luna's wild and unpredictable strategy. While he would sometimes take up to a few minutes to decide a move, Luna would inevitably move a piece no more than half a minute after Ron. After a few moves, Ron ceased trying to go easy on Luna, and slowly gained an edge over the Ravenclaw in materiel.

As Ron and Luna's chess game wore on, Madam Rosmerta brought Neville and Hermione their butterbeers, and at Luna's suggestion, Harry ordered a gillywater for each of them. ("With a cocktail onion," Luna added. "Trust me, Harry, it makes the drink.")

Then the quintet heard a cheery, "Hi, everybody!" and saw Colin Creevey there smiling at them holding a few photographs in his hand.

"Are those the photos you took?" Luna asked, waiting for Ron to make his move in the chess game.

The fourth-year Gryffindor nodded enthusiastically. "Here's one for you, uh, Luna, and one for you, Harry. I think they turned out really well." He handed two of the photos in his hand to Harry and Luna.

Looking at the picture, Harry thought Colin was vastly understating things. The picture turned out perfectly. Harry watched as photo-Harry turned towards photo-Luna, and leaned into say something to her with a cheeky grin on his face. Photo-Luna then turned her head towards photo-Harry, a beatific smile on her face, and said something back to him. It was a intimate candid shot of the two of them sharing a happy moment.

"Colin, this is _great_!" Harry said enthusiastically.

"Yes, it's really wonderful," Luna concurred. "I've never had such a good photo taken of me before. Would you be able to get me another print, Colin, to send to Daddy?"

Colin smiled widely at the complements. "Sure thing, Luna. I'll get you a second print tomorrow."

"That's a great shot," Hermione agreed. "I think you're more of a natural with the wizarding camera than a normal one."

"I'm glad you said that, Hermione, because..."

Ron interrupted Colin. "You asked Colin to take your picture, Harry?" he said as he moved a bishop to capture one of Luna's pawns.

Luna made her move almost immediately, before Colin answered for Harry. "No, I was just testing out my new wizarding camera, taking pictures of people and places around Hogsmeade. I'm go to show all the prints in my pack" (he pointed to his backpack) "to Dennis back at the castle in just a moment, but I wanted to give Harry and Luna those, and you this," he said looking at Hermione, and handing her the last print in her hand.

It showed Hermione walking down the Hogsmeade High street, lifting a paper cup in her hand and drinking from it, before lowering it and leaving a dab of whipped cream on her nose. Then photo-Hermione noticed the whipped cream, and dabbed it off her nose with her finger as she smiled a wide and happy smile at the cream on her finger.

"Wow," said Ron, almost in awe. "You look amazing, 'Mione."

Hermione smiled almost as happy a smile as her photographic counterpart did as she looked at the photo. "Thank you _ever_ so much, Colin!" she said sincerely. "I didn't even see you there. This is a wonderful photo! Can I keep this?"

"Of course," he said, blushing at her compliments. "It's the subject more than the shot that makes that a good picture, I think. When I saw you walking drinking that hot chocolate, I knew I had to take the photo."

"Well, thank you all the same. I'm going to send this to my family – they'll love it. Thanks, Colin."

"You're welcome," he said. "Now I'm going to go show Dennis everything he missed today. He waved at the quintet and left.

Ron turned to Hermione and in a sing-song voice, taunted, "Someone's got a crush on you..."

"Oh, hush, you," she said exasperatedly to her friend. "He was just giving me a photo he caught."

"Taking candid photos of you, giving you glossy prints..." Ron continued. "I mean, I can see him doing that for Harry, he practically _worships_ him, but that one... Colin _fancies_ you." He chuckled at that.

"Oh, grow up, Ron! He's nearly two years younger than me, and he just took a photo."

"A really good photo," Neville pointed out. "You look so alive and happy in that."

Now Hermione blushed a little. "Thanks, Neville. And anyway, Colin took a great photo of Luna, too, but you didn't say he had a crush on _her_."

Ron chortled. "If he has a crush on anyone in that photo, it's _not_ Luna," he said cheekily.

"Hey!" shouted Harry indignantly. "Come on!"

Ron laughed, and said, "Poor Colin, fancying an exotic older woman..."

"Really, Ron, I'm hardly exotic. We're both Muggleborns, you know." Ron laughed at Hermione's protests, until she said, "And I wouldn't talk about having someone who _fancies_ you, Ronald Bilius Weasley. Or do you think Lavender _really_ needed to follow us to look at Quidditch equipment?" she said somewhat viciously.

Now it was Ron's turn to be embarrassed. "Oh, be quiet, Hermione," he said as his face turned red.

Hermione merely smirked victoriously.

"So, what did you guys do today?" Neville asked Harry, trying to diffuse the tension that arose.

Harry gave Neville a brief run-down of their day, leaving out the rumours and the kissing, as the gillywaters arrived. He found the drink a little too mild for his tastes, but Luna loved it. When he got to describing their confrontation with Draco and his hangers-on, Ron said disdainfully, "That cowardly little ferret. Won't take you on until you're on your bums on the ice and they outnumber you two-to-one."

Hermione, on the other hand, said, "Well, I'm glad you didn't do anything, Harry. You don't need the trouble, and you don't want Umbridge involved in things more than she is already."

"I really wanted to hex Malfoy and Parkinson, especially once they started insulting Luna," Harry said. "The only reason I didn't is because Luna stopped me."

"I'm really glad you didn't," Luna said patting his hand. "People say mean things to me all the time. You don't need to but yourself in danger because of it."

"Luna's right," Ron said, surprising Harry. "We wait until those snakes don't expect it, _then_ we take them down."

"No!" Hermione shouted. "No taking _anyone_ down! There's too much important going on to risk anything. I'm glad you could calm him down," she said sincerely to Luna. "He's such a hothead, sometimes."

"I am not a hothead!" Harry exclaimed.

" 'He said hotheadedly' " quipped Ron.

"You are very impulsive," Luna said. "Oh, I think it's wonderful, Harry, but it could get you in trouble one day. Like if you ever run into a charging Snorkack, you can't charge them back, you know. You have to keep calm."

That put Harry in a better mood, and he squeezed her hand. The confused looks on Ron and Hermione's were just icing on the cake for him.

"Anyway, I really didn't like Crabbe just taking a run at me on his skates. That was totally unfair," he said.

"Charging," Hermione said between sips of her butterbeer.

"What?"

"It's called 'charging'. It gets you a two-minute penalty in ice hockey." At the bewildered looks of her tablemates, she explained, "The year before Hogwarts, my cousin Adrienne from Montreal stayed with us for a year. She's four years older than me. I swear she dragged us to every ice hockey game in Greater London. She's a really puck bunny."

Ron burst out laughing at that. After a moment, Hermione turned on him. _"Puck_ bunny! _Puck!_ It means she only dates hockey players. Honestly_,_ Ron, _must_ you be so juvenile?" He merely chortled some more, and so she turned away from him. "I swear, I learned more about ice hockey in that year than I would ever wish on anyone. I worry it's taking up valuable space in my brain that could better be used for remembering spells."

"Wrackspurt siphons can fix that," Luna said quietly, still looking intensely at the chess board.

"What?"

"Wrackspurt siphons. Oh, I know, you must be thinking how that sounds crazy, because how can wrackspurt siphons do anything other than remove wrackspurts? But you can attune them to make you lose memories you don't want. Daddy can show you how, if you ever ask him."

"Firewhiskey is also traditional," Ron said in a deadpan. Neville accidentally snorted butterbeer out his nose as he laughed, reduce the rest of the table to laughter, except for Hermione, who crossed her arms and looked unamused at the lot of them.

They all enjoyed their drinks for a moment, and Ron made a final move in the game and said, "Checkmate. Good game, Luna! Are you sure you've never played anyone other than your father?"

"Yes. You're my first non-Lovegood opponent, Ron."

'Well, you did really well. You almost had me on the ropes a few times. Your style really... ah... erm... _unorthodox_, but it's pretty good. Want to go again?" Ron asked sincerely.

"No, I think I'm good, but thank you for the game," she said with a smile.

"Well, now _you_ owe me a butterbeer!"

Luna shook her head. "I didn't make any bet with you, you know. I will buy you a gillywater to congratulate you, though."

Ron shook his head. "Nah, I'll stick with drinking butterbeer, I think."

Ginny then sat down out of the blue next to Harry. "Hi everyone! Ooh, nice flower, Luna," she said, pointing across Harry to the violet in her hair.

"Yes, Harry gave it to me. I quite like it."

"It's very pretty," Ginny agreed. She then grinned conspiratorially at Luna, and leaned across Harry to speak closely to the blonde girl. "Did you have any more fun with the lipstick?" Ginny winked at Luna as she said this.

Luna blushed and nodded. "I can't get it to turn purple, though, no matter how much I concentrate."

"You've been trying to do that?" Harry interjected.

"Yes, but I know it hasn't worked, as you would have said something if my lips were purple."

Ginny laughed, and teasingly said, "Maybe you have to treat her like a princess, Harry."

Luna shook her head. "No, that can't be it, as he really has done so already."

Ron piped up, "We're _right here_, you know!"

Ginny stuck her tongue out at her older brother.

"Anyway, Ginny, I should give you the lipstick back. You were right, it was a lot of fun. I may get some," Luna said, rummaging through her canvas bag.

"Keep it," Ginny said, raising her hand in a 'stop' gesture. "I got another stick of it today for myself. Consider it a gift. To both of you." She grinned widely at Harry at that, and laughed as he tried to keep a straight face.

"Where's Michael?" asked Neville.

"Oh, he's over there with Terry Boot, Anthony Goldstein, and Padma Patil. He said he wanted to sit with his fellow Ravenclaws. I'm going to go sit with him shortly, but I wanted to say hello to all of you."

"Luna's a Ravenclaw. He wouldn't be alone," Ron pointed out.

"Oh, Michael doesn't like me," Luna said in her usual dreamy tone.

Ginny frowned. "That's not true," she said quietly, but Harry didn't think she was very convincing.

"HEY! GINNY!" came a shout from across the pub.

"Well, I guess I should go. And _you_," she said looking at Luna "I expect full disclosure later."

"Hey!" said Harry.

"See you all later!" Ginny said cheerfully as she went to sit with her boyfriend.

Neville shook his head. "I don't know what she sees in that guy."

"Me neither," Ron said.

"Michael's very popular in Ravenclaw," Luna said. "He's smart, and he's apparently funny, although he never tells me any jokes, and I know my roommates think he's a good catch."

"Still, she could do much better than some jerk who won't even sit with her friends," Neville said, to Ron's approval.

"I don't think he's a jerk," Luna said.

"But I've seen how he treats you," interrupted Harry, patting his hand. "He seems pretty jerky to me."

"He obviously doesn't treat Ginny like that, and that's what really matters, don't you think?" asked Luna, squeezing his hand. "I mean, lots of people don't like me, but they can't all be bad people just because of that, can they?"

Harry saw Ron and Hermione look guilty at that, obviously thinking of their past attitudes to the blonde Ravenclaw. He put an arm around Luna, and pulled her close to him.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, get a room, you two!" said Ron with an exasperated grin on his face. Harry then raised his hand as it to signal for just that from Madam Rosmerta, to Luna's amusement and Hermione's shock.

"_HARRY!_" the brunette exclaimed, until he lowered his hand began chuckling. When Luna, Ron and Neville joined in, Hermione just scowled, and muttered, "Really, the lot of you."

The five of them were soon joined by Fred and George, or George and Fred – Harry often had trouble telling the two apart. "Hello all," said one.

"Having fun everyone?" asked the other.

Before anyone could respond, Madam Rosmerta came to the table, bringing another butterbeer for Ron, and two firewhiskey's for the twins.

"Beauty and booze," said one of them. (_Fred_, Harry thought.)

"You have it all," said the other, who must therefore be George.

"Marry us!" shouted Fred.

Madam Roberta laughed, "You two boys..."

"Rejection!"

"Oh, the shame!"

"The ignominy!"

"What shall we do to get over the pain?"

Fred raised his shot glass, and slammed it back.

"Ah!" exclaimed George, and did the same.

"Two more, please, Madam," said Fred with a laugh.

Madam Rosmerta laughed again and went to get two more firewhiskeys for the twins.

"So what have you two been up to?" Hermione asked with a grin on her face.

"We spent much of the day at Zonko's," said Fred.

"Checking out the competition," said George.

"Their selection is pathetic."

"Good location, though."

"Maybe we'll buy it when we drive them out of business," Fred laughed.

"We heard a rumour about you two," George said, looking at Harry.

"A scandalous one."

"Shocking!"

Harry groaned. "Which one?"

"_Blackmail_," said Fred darkly.

"Luna is _not_ blackmailing me!" shouted Harry.

"Of course not," said George.

"That would be ludicrous," said Fred.

"We heard you're blackmailing her."

"What?" Harry exclaimed.

"Apparently, you have in your possession _proof_ of the existence of Crumbly Snorers."

"No, that's not it, it was Crimped Selkirks."

"Crumple-Horned Snorkacks?" interrupted Luna, smiling at the two.

"That's it!" shouted Fred.

"And you" George pointed at Harry "threatened to _destroy_ said proof, unless this poor girl agreed to accompany you to Hogsmeade."

"You villain!"

Luna laughed. "I don't think that's true, George."

"I'm Fred," said the one Harry had thought was George.

Luna was about to say something, but then Harry thought he caught a look passing between the two.

"Sorry, _Fred_," said Luna with a twinkle. "But I don't think Harry is hiding proof of Snorkacks. He certainly never mentioned it to me." She turned to Harry, and adopting an innocent expression, said. "You aren't, are you Harry?"

Harry shook his head, smilingly. "No, although if I was, you'd be the first to know." He turned to Fred – _no, George, I suppose_, thought Harry. "I thought I had heard all the rumours. I hadn't heard that one."

The twins grinned. "What are the other rumours?"

Harry gave them a brief rundown – love potions, seduction schemes, the other blackmail one, marriage contracts, and the prank rumour involving the twins. Fred and George were grinning until the last one.

"We wouldn't prank you like that, Luna," George said sincerely.

"Ronnie-kins, though..." Fred said.

"The hard part would be convincing Harry to date him, though," said George sagely.

"HEY!" shouted Ron and Harry simultaneously, to the amusement of the others at the table.

"I do like that seduction rumour, though," said Fred.

"If you need us, we will defend your honour, Luna," said George.

"From this seducer."

"Rake!"

"Cad!"

"Bounder!"

"Libertine! Wands at dawn, sir!" said Fred.

"I will be your second, brother!" said George.

"But Harry _is_ the defeater of dark wizards," Fred pointed out.

"And our nominal superior in the D.A." George agreed.

"This requires further thought, methinks."

"And liquid courage!"

"More firewhiskey!" shouted Fred, as he left the table to find Madam Rosmerta.

"Agreed!" shouted George, with a jaunty salute to his tablemates.

Neville, Hermione and Harry were laughing, Luna was doubled over chortling, and Ron merely groaned and said, "You see what I live with?"

Once Luna had recovered, Harry said, "We should go if we want to walk back to the castle."

Luna nodded, but Ron said, "Why walk? Take a carriage with us!"

"Ron! Get a clue!" said Hermione in exasperation as she elbowed him.

"Hey!" Ron shouted. "I'm going to have to see Madam Pomfrey because of you!"

"Bye guys," Harry said, taking Luna's hand and leading her away.

On the way out, they ran into Lavender Brown. "Hi guys!" she said cheerfully. "How's your day going?"

"Really great, thank you," said Luna. Lavender sighed at that, and smiled at Luna.

"Are Ron and Hermione back there?" Lavender asked.

Harry nodded. "They're with Neville at the back."

"Great! She you back at the castle!" she then bounded off towards the back.

Harry shook his head. "Poor Ron."

"You don't like Lavender?" asked Luna, surprised.

"No, it's not that at all. I just think she may be too much for him."

Luna laughed, as they left the pub and began the walk back to the castle.

* * *

It was a long walk, and at some point they were passed by many of the Hogwarts carriages. They were happy, however, to walk together in the cold night air, staying right next to one another.

As they approached the castle, Harry looked at Luna and said, "Thank you for going out with me today, Luna. I cannot remember when I've had more fun, even with all those stupid rumours and that stuff with those Snakes."

She smiled at him, and said, "I _know_ I've never had more fun, Harry. This has been a wonderful first date."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Do you mean that as in first date ever, or first date with me?"

She blushed. "Definitely the first, and I was hoping the second."

He hugged her tightly at that. "Me too," he said in her ear. "Next Hogsmeade weekend is just before your birthday. Will you go with me to that one, too?"

"I would love to," she said happily. "Does my hair still smell good?" she asked him teasingly.

"Vanilla and lilacs," he said. _And you_, he left unsaid.

He then ended the hug and looked in her eyes. "Seriously, Luna, this was wonderful," he said, running his left hand through her hair.

She sighed contentedly. "I know. Are they purple yet?"

He shook his head. "Red."

"I really have to figure out how to do..." she was cut off by Harry moving in for a kiss.

After a few seconds, he pulled back and smiled at her. "Raspberry, I think."

"Better be sure," she said with a twinkle, and pulled his head to hers. Their kiss was far more passionate than the ones before, lips moving against one another, tongues connecting and dancing without the reticence of earlier in the day, hands in each others hair, sighs and slight moans emerging from satisfied mouths. It lasted forever and ended far too quickly.

"So?" she asked, taking his hand and walking back to the castle.

"It started off raspberry, but it was definitely cherry by the end of it. And your lips are really, really deep red now," he added.

She smiled shyly and blushed deeply. "Yes, I imagine they would be," she said somewhat cryptically. "I really like this lipstick, Harry."

"Me too," he said, squeezing her hand, "but I like what the lipstick is on even more."

That got him another kiss, just as cherry-tasting as the last one.

* * *

They held hands all the way into the Great Hall, and reluctantly separated and went to their own tables, although they agreed that Harry would sit with Luna for desert.

As Harry went to the Gryffindor table, he sat with Ron, Neville, Lavender, and Hermione, who must have been in one of the carriages that passed him.

"Merlin, look at that grin," said Ron, shaking his head. "Good date, Harry?"

Flashing a thousand-watt smile, Harry Potter simply said, "The best."


	9. Necklace

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers apply. It should be intuitively obvious that I have no rights to Harry Potter or anything associated with it, but on the off chance it is _not_, the reader should know that I in fact have no such rights.

Protection From Nargles

Part 9 - Necklace

_January, 1996._

It was another night in the Gryffindor common room. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas were heatedly discussing the upcoming friendly between the Irish and English National Quidditch Teams. Colin and Dennis Creevey were looking at the photographs Colin took in Hogsmeade. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil were reading tarot cards and whispering excitedly to one another, casting the occasional glance towards the Wizard's Chess match across the common room, where Harry Potter was once again losing to Ron Weasley. About one time out of every five they played, Harry would manage to beat Ron, usually by a game of attrition.

This was not one of those times.

Harry soon found his queen pinned then captured, resulting a few moves later in Ron triumphantly shouting "Checkmate!" Harry groaned in defeat, and Neville Longbottom took his place as Ron's next opponent, while Harry took Neville's place on the sofa a few feet away from the game.

It had been a long Sunday of O.W.L. revision for Harry, Ron and Hermione, going over the various subjects they were taking and getting ready for the important end-of-fifth-year tests. These tests would determine which advanced courses Harry would be eligible for, and so while Harry would have preferred to spend a second day in Hogsmeade, he stayed in the Gryffindor common room, studying with his best friends. Ron griped a lot, and Hermione was her usual mix of joyful at learning and anxious that it wasn't enough for her to do as well as she wanted, but it had been a productive day for all of them, and Harry was grateful at Hermione's continual prodding of him to at least _try_ to live up to his academic potential.

The decision to stay and study was made easier by the knowledge that Luna Lovegood was also studying in the Ravenclaw common room, and not out in the village enjoying the second day of the weekend. While her fourth-year exams were nowhere near as intense as the O.W.L.s, like all Ravenclaws, Luna was determined to excel, more for her own satisfaction than any worry about letting the side down. Not for the first time, Harry wondered what it would be like to see Luna and Hermione go head-to-head in an academic debate, rather than a debate about Luna's beliefs. He suspected it would either be extremely entertaining and informative, or dreadfully scary.

Or more likely, both.

Yesterday had been a good day for Harry – his first real date with Luna. They had had a lovely time in Hogsmeade, hung out together with his friends (who he was proud to say had made Luna feel welcome among them), talked, skated, held hands, and apart from having to deal with bizarre rumours and a confrontation with Draco Malfoy and his hangers-on, had lots of fun.

And there was the kissing. That had been... not merely _fun_, exactly. More like transcendent.

Dean had bragged about snogging his Muggle girlfriend over the last summer, and Seamus had excitedly described to his roommates about snogging Lavender after last year's Yule Ball (although he never brought the topic up when Lavender was around), but the way the other boys had described it didn't compared to what kissing Luna had been like for Harry. Oh, it had felt wonderful, and he definitely wanted to do more of it with the blonde Ravenclaw, but more than that, it made him feel connected to her, on an emotional plane as much as a sensual one.

He was quite certain he had a new Patronus memory.

As he was thinking about all this, he once again found himself idly rolling in his hand the butterbeer cork charm Luna had made for him, and thinking about what the D.A. obviously meant to her, as she had saved those corks from the organizing meeting in the Hog's Head Pub all those months ago. He was still doing this, vaguely watching the other two boys play chess, when Hermione came and sat next to him, clutching the novel Viktor Krum had given her.

"Taking a break from studying?" he said teasingly.

The brunette playfully swatted his arm and smiled at him. "I think we did enough for today. And I was surprised at how focused you were today. I thought you'd have your head in the clouds, considering."

"Yeah, well... I'm just sorry we only got to the tail end of supper today."

Hermione smirked. "Not as much as Ron, though."

"Yeah, but for different reasons."

She rolled her eyes. "You can handle one supper without seeing her, Harry," which caused him to blush. "I didn't ask after you got back yesterday, but did you have a good time with Luna?"

His face lit up. "Yeah, I really did. Luna's a lot of fun, and it was great doing Hogsmeade with someone." Seeing the expression on her face, he said, "You know what I mean. Madam Puddifoot's isn't somewhere I want to go with Ron and you."

"Can you imagine Ron there?" she said, and broke out laughing.

"Hey! I'm right here!" Ron said from the chess game. "Maybe I'll go there on the next Hogsmeade weekend, just to show you two."

"It's not really for singles, Ron," Harry said.

"I never said I'd be going alone," the red-haired boy said. "Now could you two pipe down, I'm trying not to lose here."

Hermione looked a little pained at Ron's comment, and exasperatedly said, "Fine, Ron. Play your game," as Harry laughed. She turned to her black-haired friend, and said, "It's good to see you laugh, Harry. You've been so sullen these last few months. I worry about you, you know. Ron and I both do."

"You know what I've been going through, Hermione," he said, his voice raising slightly.

"I know," she said, trying to placate him. "But you've been so withdrawn. You can always talk to us. You don't have to hide things. Or try and protect us."

He shook his head. "It's just hard. There's so much going on, so much _awfulness_, that it's hard to talk about sometimes."

"You talk to Luna about it..."

He frowned. "That's different. It's different with her..."

"I know it is. Just don't forget you can still talk to us, Harry – we're your best friends."

He sighed. "I know you are, Hermione, and I do know I can talk to you and Ron, although you two _are_ busy with your prefect duties an awful lot. But it is different with Luna – she really is a calming influence on me -"

"Like yesterday, with Malfoy?" Hermione interrupted.

"Yeah, just like that," he said. He sighed, and ran his right hand through his hair. "It's not just that, though. She's really easy to talk to, about everything. And she's always saying something surprising..." Harry paused momentarily as he watched Hermione visibly stop herself from rolling her eyes, before continuing, "and not just about her creatures. She really is insightful, you know. She mentioned you helped her this past week, by the way. Hairstyle advice? That's not the kind of advice you normally give," he said with a smile.

"Well, it appears she took it," Hermione said defensively.

"And she really did look good," he said dreamily, to Hermione's amusement. Seeing her smirk, he said, "I'm glad you helped her, Hermione. It would be really nice if you and her became friends. She doesn't really have any other than Ginny and me."

Hermione snorted at that, and upon seeing Harry's questioning look, said, "I think you're a little more than a _friend_ to Luna, Harry. I know I don't go around kissing my friends the way you two obviously did yesterday." At another enquiring glance from her friend, she said, "Ginny told me all about that lipstick of hers, and you keep staring off into space with that goofy grin on your face. I can put two and two together."

"Well, yeah..." Harry said sheepishly.

"So if you do want to be more than friends with her" (Hermione waited for his nod before continuing) "have you talked to her about it?"

"Sort of. I... kind of told her I really like her," he said very quickly.

Hermione's eyes lit up. "_Really!_ What did she say?"

He smiled. "She said the same thing."

"Well, there you go. It sounds like you want her to be your girlfriend, and that she'd like that. So go ask her," she said, almost ordering him.

"It should really be obvious I think of her that way, I would think."

Hermione shook her head. "Maybe, but you should tell her. No one likes to be left wondering about something like that."

"I did ask Luna to the next Hogsmeade weekend," he said.

"That's good, but you still need to talk to her," she said insistently.

"I know. So how's the book?" he asked, hoping Hermione would let him change the topic.

The brunette smiled a little smile. "It's pretty good. I think my Bulgarian is coming along – my written Bulgarian, at least. I'm sure my accent is atrocious, but its better than nothing, and I'm hoping to practice speaking it over Easter."

This was news to Harry. "Oh? Going to visit Viktor?" he asked teasingly.

She blushed a little. "No, I'm going to Malaga with my parents, but Bulgaria is playing a Quidditch friendly against Portugal that week, and he may swing through on the way back home."

"Just for language tutoring, I'm sure," he said with a smirk.

Hermione was just about to retort, when Ron loudly shouted, "Damn it!", causing all the heads of the common room to turn to look at him, most curious at Ron's outburst, but Lavender and Parvati broke out giggling.

"Ronald!" chastised Hermione.

"I'm sorry, but I totally fell into Neville's trap. There goes my winning streak," Ronald said despairingly while the other boy grinned. "Good game. Now I owe you a butterbeer," he said to Neville.

"I'll play you, Neville," said Hermione, to Ron and Harry's surprise, as she took Ron's spot opposite Neville. He grinned, and set up the pieces.

Ron sat down next to Harry. "What were you two talking about?"

"Viktor," Harry said, causing Ron to frown. "She may see him at Easter."

"I thought she was going to Malta or something with her parents."

"Spain, but apparently Viktor may pass through."

Ron frowned again, but didn't elaborate. "What are you doing at Easter, anyway?"

"I'll probably stay here, like always."

"You should come to the Burrow – Ginny and I are going home this year, and the twins may as well. It's been hard for Mum since Percy, well... it'll be good for her to have us all home. You should come."

"Are you sure? I wouldn't be intruding?" Harry asked.

"Of course not. Mum would always love to have you visit, and you know me and Ginny have a blast when you're there. Plus, you could visit the neighbours. Well, one neighbour in particular," he said with a grin and a wink. "You know you want to."

Harry smiled. "Yeah, I'd love to go. Check with your Mum, to be sure, but it'll be fun."

Ron clapped him on the back, as they heard Neville laugh and Hermione shout, "Aaaaugh!" in frustration. "Four moves! You beat me in four moves! I _demand_ a rematch," she said as she began to reset her pieces. "Oh, _shut up!_" she said to her pieces as they berated her for falling into Scholar's Mate. Neville began to laugh, and Ron and Harry moved closer to watch the next game unfold.

* * *

Monday morning in the Great Hall saw Harry enjoying a bowl of porridge with raisins and brown sugar at the Gryffindor table with his friends. He looked over to the Ravenclaw table occasionally and exchanged smiles and waves with Luna, to the general amusement of his housemates, and the hostile looks of some of Luna's. When the morning owls came in, a small barn owl swooped low over him, dropped a small piece of parchment into his bowl, and flew away just as suddenly.

Harry wiped the porridge off the parchment and read it.

_Mr. Potter, _

_Understood. And you're welcome._

_-X.L._

Harry smiled, and folded up the note, and caught Luna looking quizically at him. He gave her another small wave.

"Interesting mail?" asked Ron.

"Just plans coming together," Harry said cryptically. He didn't elaborate further, despite Ron's prodding.

Monday morning brought another session of Defence Against the Dark Arts. Harry wondered which of Dolores Umbridge's styles of "teaching" she would employ today: the pointless transcribing of the textbook, or a baiting and insulting harangue against what she viewed as improper and insufficiently loyal to the Ministry of Magic.

Unfortunately for Harry, today was a baiting day for Umbridge. She began class with a lengthy speech against the "continuing false and vicious rumours about You-Know-Who's supposed return", making sure to make comments about "attention-seeking liars" and "senile old men who should retire instead of spreading dissent". Hermione kept glancing nervously at him, but Harry was proud he kept his cool with only a minimum of teeth-grinding.

That changed when Umbridge switched targets, and began taking swipes at media outlets she viewed as opposed to the Ministry. First she attacked Irish Wizarding Radio as an "unnecessary foreign presence which no proper witch or wizard should listen to". That caused Seamus Finnigan to object vociferously, earning him two hours of detention that evening. She then moved on to describing _The Quibbler_ as a forum for liars and the unstable, and described anyone who read it as "a few knuts short of a galleon", and a "lunatic". That last term cause a fair portion of the class to look at Harry, who loudly stated that Umbridge was completely wrong ("Oh no, Harry," whispered Hermione to him, which he ignored), and that he'd rather read _The Quibbler_ than "a pack of lies like the _Daily Prophet_".

Professor Umbridge smiled evilly at him, and said, "You'll be joining Mr. Finnigan tonight for detention, Mr. Potter," to the sniggers of most of the Slytherins in class. She then directed the class to begin copying the textbook. Even the Slytherins groaned subtly at that.

* * *

As Harry was finishing supper that evening, he saw Luna lingering just inside one of the doors to the Great Hall, obviously waiting for him. He scarfed down the remainder of his pork chop and Brussels sprouts, and went over to where his blonde friend awaited.

She smiled widely at him as he approached, and they wandered down the hallway close to one another.

"You got mail this morning," she said dreamily. "The owl looked a lot like one of Daddy's owls – Curry."

"I didn't know your father was into Indian food."

"It's short for 'Courier'," she said.

"That makes sense. Was Curry the owl who delivered the clothes to you last week?"

She shook her head. "Curry is too small for anything that big. That was Dad's other owl – Roti." Harry raised an eyebrow. "It's short for Rottweiler. Mum named him – she liked incongruity."

"Those names _cannot_ be a coincidence," Harry said.

"They're not. Daddy keeps saying he's going to name our next owl 'Butter Chicken'," she said, smiling at him.

Harry laughed, but as was often the case he had no idea whether she was joking or not. When Harry began laughing, the corners of Luna's mouth turned up, but that didn't really explain anything.

"Did the owl bring you anything interesting?" she asked.

"Oh, just a note. Nothing big."

She looked at him appraisingly. "Oh well," she said airily.

Harry got the impression he was never going to be able to get one over on Luna, but she switched subjects, as she so often did.

"Would you like to go for a walk with me tonight?" she asked hesitantly.

He shook his head sadly. "I'd love to, but Seamus and I have detention with Umbridge tonight."

She frowned. "What happened?"

"Umbridge was spouting her propaganda again. Seamus and I objected to her attacks on certain media. I didn't like that she called _Quibbler_ readers lunatics."

She stopped, grabbed his hand, and looked into his eyes with a serious expression on her face. "Harry, you don't have to do things like that. You don't need to defend me, you know."

He smiled at her. "Wasn't that my line?"

She blushed. "I don't want you getting carved up on my account. But thank you anyway." She stood up kissed his cheek.

He squeezed her hand gently. "I should go find Seamus and get this over with. Can we go for that walk tomorrow? I'll meet you outside the Charms classroom at seven?"

She smiled, nodded, and kissed his cheek again. He reluctantly let go of her hand and went to go get mutilated by Dolores Umbridge.

* * *

The next evening, Harry was leaving the Great Hall to rendezvous with Luna for their walk. He looked ruefully at his bandaged right hand (_"I must not defend crackpots"_ was the inspirational message Umbridge had him write that day), and regretted having had to postpone their walk to today. He knew that asking him was a new a nerve-wracking experience for Luna, even if she must have known he'd gladly say yes.

_But did she know?_ he thought to himself. Harry thought he had been pretty obvious – the kissing, the public hand-holding – but maybe Hermione was right, and he should make it clear he hoped she would be his girlfriend. Maybe even some more open gesture would be good.

Harry's musings were interrupted as he approached hallway containing the Charms classroom. He heard a number of voices talking somewhat heatedly, and then he thought he heard the dreamy tones of Luna. Preparing himself for the worst, he hurried on as the voices became more distinctive.

"I don't know why you're bothering, Loony," said one voice which sounded like Lucretia Marquand. "Love potions don't last forever, and when he gets over them, he's going to hate you even more than we do."

"If that's even possible," said a voice he didn't recognize.

"Oh, I'm not giving him any potions," he heard Luna say airily. "I'd never do that to an..."

"Why else would someone like Potter ever give _you_ the time of day?" taunted Lucretia interrupting her.

"Unless he's pranking her, like they say. He's going to _humiliate_ you!" said another voice teasingly.

Harry rounded the corner to see Luna with her back against the wall, surrounded by Lucretia and the two Slytherin girls that followed her everywhere. There was no-one else in the hallway. Luna outwardly seemed as dreamy as ever, but Harry recognized the look he saw in her eyes – she was afraid of what these girls might do to her with no one else around. Harry didn't think the Slytherins noticed this, but Harry now broke into a run.

"Yeah, even worse than Arcas MacNeil last year!" laughed Lucretia, as her friends joined in.

"HEY! What are you three doing?" shouted Harry, pushing his way through them to reach Luna.

"Hello, Harry," the blonde Ravenclaw said, smiling at him. "You're right on time."

He took her hand, and said, "I wouldn't want to stand you up." Turning to Lucretia, he asked menacingly, "What are you doing to Luna?"

"Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist, Potter," smirked Lucretia. "We were just keeping Luna company. Those love potions she's giving you must have a homing charm in them. You should talk to Professor Snape about getting extra credit, Luna."

"Why don't you snakes go somewhere else and leave my girlfriend alone?" asked Harry, who then realized what he had called Luna. He turned to look at her, a questioning look in his eyes, and his world stopped... until she nodded and a wide smile broke out on her face.

"Thank you for the chat, Lucretia, Anne, and Jocasta," Luna said sincerely at the Slytherins, "but my boyfriend and I are going to go for a walk."

Harry couldn't help himself. He took her in his arms and gave her a deep kiss right there in the charms hallway. It ended too soon, as they always did, and as they separated, he commented quietly, "No lipstick today."

She smiled and shook her head. "I think that's more for special occasions. Is that o.k.?"

"You're perfect just the way you are," he said.

The girl Luna addressed as Jocasta made retching sounds, as Harry shot her a look, took out his wand (the Slytherin girls backed up at this), took out the butterbeer cork charm Luna had made him all those weeks ago, and cast _Engorgio_ at the string, until it was of sufficient length. He then placed the now necklace-sized charm over his head, to Luna's astonishment, the Slytherin girls' guffaws...

And the chastisement of Professor Flitwick, coming down the hallway.

"Mister Potter!" said the diminutive Charms professor loudly. "You know better than to use magic in the hallways, even if you were using a Charm correctly." His eyes looked pointedly at Harry's necklace. "And _both_ you and Miss Lovegood know better than to make such an inappropriate display in the hallways, especially given the High Inquisitor's edicts on such matters. Seven points from Gryffindor, five points from Ravenclaw, and two evenings detention for the both of you." Turning to the Slytherin trio, he said, "Now run along, ladies, go enjoy the evening."

The three Slytherins left somewhat dejectedly, obviously disappointed that they wouldn't get to see the full extent of Harry and Luna's punishment.

Turning back to the two students, who were still holding hands, Professor Flitwick pondered the situation out loud. "Now, what kind of detention to give you two? Hmmm... something appropriately harsh. Ah ha!" he snapped his fingers. Looking harshly at the two (although Harry thought he could see a slight smile on his lips), he said, "Tonight and tomorrow night, you will go into the forest and tend the thestral nest. You can both see them, I believe." Upon Harry and Luna's confirmation, he continued, "You will feed the thestrals, clear debris from the nests, and generally clean the area surrounding them. You may use your wands – both for the work and for protection from the thestrals." (Now Harry was certain that Professor Flitwick was suppressing a smile.) "You shall stay out there from seven until ten-thirty, at which time you will go directly to your common rooms. Now go get your winter wear and be off," he said pleasantly.

Harry met Luna at the entrance to the castle a few minutes later and took her hand as they walked briskly to the thestral nest.

"It's really not much of a punishment – having to spend two evenings with you out there," Harry said. "I almost feel bad about putting one over on poor Professor Flitwick."

"Oh, I think he knew exactly what he was doing," she said knowingly. "Unlike Umbridge, I'm sure he knows Thestrals are harmless – he's very smart. I think he gave us a non-detention, simply because he had to do _something_ with Lucretia there. Otherwise, she likely would have told Umbridge, and we would have 'lines' with her."

Harry thought about that, and figured Luna was likely right once again in his analysis.

"Besides, he must have seen us kissing, but he only came over well after we were done," she said, gently squeezing Harry's bandaged right hand. "Did you mean it when you called me your girlfriend?"

Harry turned and looked deeply into her eyes. "I really did. I'd like you to be..."

She leaned over and kissed him again. "Good. Me too. Now let's go feed the thestrals." Not letting go of his hand, she began skipping into the Forest, which meant Harry had to skip as well to keep up with her. Harry had never skipped before, and although he was certain he looked completely ludicrous skipping into the woods at night, it was exactly where he wanted to be – so long as he was with Luna.

THE END

_(Author's Note: And that's the end of __Protection from Nargles__. The story continues in __Harry and Luna Against the High Inquisitor__, the first chapter of which I am posting simultaneously with this one. The reason for the new story is that this one is basically entirely fluffy, while the next one will concern their dealings with Professor Umbridge, amidst probably a lot of fluff there as well (what can I say? I like writing it). The change in tone makes a new story they way to go, I think._

_I'd like to thank everyone who has read this story, and especially everyone who has reviewed it. This was my first foray into fanfiction for more than a decade, and I really appreciate all the feedback I have gotten on it. I've really enjoyed writing it, and I hope you've enjoyed reading it.)_


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